


(my god) don't look at your phone

by magicalmayhems



Series: don't look at your phone verse [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions, Pokemon GO
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blue finds his blog theraputic, Denial of Feelings, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Social Media, Tags Are Hard, Tumblr, and has fun with it, but he needs to figure out what to do with his life, but he wont admit it, cathartic conversations, even his mom doesnt talk about him this much or this unnecessarily, he just?? won't stop talking abt red???, like?? ffs man, professor oak is problematic, red shows up and blue is Gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-10-04 22:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 32,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicalmayhems/pseuds/magicalmayhems
Summary: Blue gets a Tumblr. Somehow, this proves beneficial for everyone involved.OR: the fic in which blue becomes a researcher instead of the viridian city gym leader, mends fences with his grandfather (kind of. okay, not really.), falls in love with red, and somehow manages to keep a steady social media presence despite all that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea what im doing lmao
> 
> formatting suggestions welcome! my tumblr is @magicalmayhems, but im not very active on there anymore
> 
> shoot me an ask, maybe it'll inspire a side fic or smth
> 
> THE SEQUEL IS OUT! 
> 
> it's called "do not fear (this is growth)"

"Don't you think," Daisy says, delicately, "that you've been moping about this a little too much?"

She is, of course, referring to the fact that Blue lost the championship two months ago and has moped about it in excess ever since. But in his defense, he won, and then it got snatched away five minutes later. He's got a right to be bitter, especially since Red just dropped off the grid completely a month into his reign.

Sent the whole world into an aneurysm, too. Blue'd kill for that kinda concern to be directed at him.

"Have you ever had your dream ripped away after five blissful minutes of having it?" Blue hisses. "I think that if you had, you'd've been moping this much too."

He doesn't really see what the big deal is. He's clean, he's eating regularly, he's even got himself exercising and on a regular sleeping pattern. He's just quiet, and they don't complain about that from their golden boy, now do they?

Daisy recoils, hurt. "Blue," She pleads. "I'm only concerned for you. You're not the same."

"You're concerned." He repeats, flatly. "Were you concerned when my Raticate died, or when I tried to gain Gramps' attention and failed miserably because he's so focused on Red? Or, ooh! How about when I went to you for support and comfort but you wouldn't even listen to me because _he took us in, Blue_!" He deliberately makes his voice high and mocking.

She flinches.

"Newsflash, just because he took us in doesn't mean that excuses all the times he's ignored me because he wanted Red to be his grandson instead! I bet you'd love to have him be your brother instead of me, huh?"

"Blue, no! How could you think that?" She demands, desperately. "I love you! And, okay, I messed up by ignoring you, but you're my little brother, okay? I love you more than I could ever love Red."  
  
Blue scoffs at her empty words. She'll be back to ignoring his complaints in two weeks, just like always, and his stupid heart will be broken when it happens, like always. "Okay," he says, dragging the word out. "But I reserve the right to call you out if you forget."  
  
"Of course!" Daisy chirps, relieved. "Just in case I do, you can start a diary or something!" She suggests, brightly.  
  
He blinks slowly, unimpressed. "Me plus a diary does not compute." He drawls, deadpan.  
  
"A blog, then." She says cheerfully. "Just a place to talk about whatever, you know?"

* * *

my sister told me to get a blog so i got a tumblr. i don't think that's what she had in mind, but it's still a blog so there. i'm blue oak (no really. really. i'll even tweet later with a link to my tumblr or smth), and i genuinely have no idea what to Do with this blog.

also whoever stole the url "bluesoak" im comin 4 u

  
#these tags are gonna be a mess lmao #uhh people have like? a tag for just rambling right #i should prolly come up with one #5 mins of googling words that mean talking later #blue blathers #asdfghjkl; it's so bad #yenno what whatever  
  
2 notes

* * *

blue oak ✓

@bluesoak 

i have a tumblr now, it's @ blueoakokay

2:24 PM - 24 Jan

* * *

Blue's tumblr explodes. He watches in fascination as his askbox rapidly fills, and wonders if he should clear it now or later.  
  
"This isn't what I had in mind!" Daisy huffs at him, phone in hand, opened to his Twitter account.  
  
"I know," He hums, scrolling through his askbox lazily, "that's why I did it, really."

* * *

ANONYMOUS SAID: this site is a hellsite  
  
BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED:

yes, i'm aware of that  
  
#asked and answered #lmao i've barely been on here and i can still tell  
  
52 notes

* * *

SOARIN-SEEL ASKED: do you know where red is?  
  
BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED:

nope  
  
#asked and answered #*spooky voice* nobody knows  
  
57 notes

* * *

 SPOONING ASKED: how tf do u beat the champion ur like 12  
  
BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED: faith, trust, power, and strategy  
  
#asked and answered 

61 notes

* * *

 maybe i should go back to school???? but like that would be so boring i dont know what i want to do with myself or with my life maybe ive already peaked???? that's such a scary thought but like? what if???

#blue blathers #im having an existential crisis #blue overshares with strangers

73 notes

_queenseaking reblogged your post_

maybe follow in your grandad's footsteps?

* * *

Blue groans. That is the last thing he wants to do, having to step under Gramps' shadow, having his judgemental gaze on him every time he does anything—more than it already is, anyway—and always coming up short? No, not ever. He's not about to subject himself to that, even if he is bored out of his skull.

He huffs, closing his laptop and pushing it to one side in order to take a nap or something. He stands to go do that, which is, of course, the moment Gramps decides he needs to talk to him  _right now_.  

"Blue!" 

"What?" He calls back, dully. 

"We've been invited over to Akane's house for dinner." Gramps says briskly. "I expect you to behave yourself."

Blue bites back a retort, scowling. "Fine," He replies, tersely. "What time are we leaving?" 

Gramps frowns at him. "You could try to at least pretend that you're looking forward to it." He scolds, disapproving as always. "Really, I know you aren't champion anymore, but it was inevitable anyway." 

"Fine!" Blue grins to hide his hurt, bright and fake. "I'm so looking forward to it!" His voice is rotting with sugar, like he just channelled the power of a Swirlix into a fake, megawatt smile. 

If his smile has too many teeth to even really be called a smile, well, what's he to do about that? 

(He ignores the bitter, bitter feeling welling up inside him expertly, tasting bile on his tongue and barely resisting the urge to completely, utterly break down).  

* * *

 . 

#haha grandfatherly disapproval is always so fun #blue overshares with strangers #again #nothing like always disappointing your family amirite

* * *

  _Why am I so keen to overshare on Tumblr?_ Blue wonders. He still hesitates to say anything to anyone ever in real life, but the instant he opens Tumblr he just says anything and everything on his mind. 

Huh. Maybe Daisy had a point with this whole Tumblr thing. 

Not that he'll ever say so, of course. He's got a reputation to uphold. 

* * *

ANONYMOUS SAID: welcome to tumblr 

BLUEOAKOKAY REPLIED:

thanks i hate it

#asked and answered #am i joking or am i not #i genuinely can't tell 

* * *

"Welcome, welcome!" Akane chirps brightly when all three Oaks turn up at her door, smiling widely. Daisy smiles back politely, Gramps nods, and he sort of just waves at her boredly. "It's so nice to have you all here!" 

Blue very carefully does not react to that. He bends to take his shoes off instead, sliding his feet into the slippers by the door. 

"I'm glad to be here." Daisy says, similarly chipper, slippers already somehow on. 

"Yes," Gramps agrees, "thank you for inviting us into your home, Akane."

"No issue at all!" Akane replies, and he straightens to look at her. She's obviously exhausted, deep bruises under her eyes. 

Blue bites his tongue to keep from mentioning it. Instead, he offers a similar phrase, smile somehow genuine enough to fool her. 

They follow her lead into the kitchen, where rice is waiting, served with an assortment of berries. His eyes fall on one of the other dishes, and suddenly it's all he can focus on. 

He didn't think she remembered what his favorite food was. 

* * *

blue oak ✓

@bluesoak 

tfw u remember how cool someone is 

10:07 PM - 24 Jan 

* * *

 "I do wish," Gramps comments, idly swirling his wine around like a pretentious bastard, "that Red were here." 

Akane freezes, spoon of rice halfway to her mouth. "Yes." She agrees, wistful and yet stiff, "but Samuel, that isn't quite what I—" 

"Oh, I know that," He says, "but you must agree that it's a shame." 

"Well," Akane says, and falls silent. 

Blue winces, he and Daisy both feeling the tension in the room skyrocket. 

"So!" Daisy cuts in desperately after a moment. "Blue, any plans for what comes next?" 

"No." He says, wishing she hadn't brought him into this. "I don't know what to do with myself." Gramps is radiating disapproval, and Blue can see his expression even when he's turned away. 

Daisy, still trying to save this dinner, for some reason, offers, "Well, you could shadow Grandpa." 

Blue frowns. "Why?" 

"Well," She replies, "Why not?" 

* * *

So, he ends up standing in Gramps' lab the next morning. "What are you doing?" He says, mostly to alleviate the boredom that comes from watching Gramps sit at his computer all day. 

Gramps blinks up at him, surprised. "Ah, Blue, I forgot you were here. I'm reading about some phenomenon they're studying up in Kalos that apparently temporarily evolves some Pokémon past their final forms." He pauses, considering, and then adds, "It's supposed to be hush-hush. Mega Evolution isn't public knowledge." 

"Oh," Blue says, because that sounds  _super interesting_. He thinks of dragging more information about it out of his Gramps, and then thinks of his image, and then thinks,  _oh, what the hell_. "So, uh. Tell me more about this Mega Evolution thing?" 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

When Blue gets home, Lance is there, sitting calmly with a mug of tea in hand. 

"Ah, Blue." He says easily, nonchalantly, like he always comes around to Blue's house when he's not there. "I was wondering when you'd come back." 

"What? Why?" Blue takes his coat off, hanging it up on the rack, and then takes his shoes off. When he looks back at Lance, the man's studying him with an unreadable look in his eyes. 

"Be the gym leader of the Viridian Gym," Lance says bluntly. 

"Excuse me?" Blue says faintly. Is he dreaming?

"Run the gym." Lance repeats, like it's obvious. "I would offer you the championship, but it's becoming increasingly clear that you wouldn't accept it." 

 Blue feels like the ground fell out from beneath his feet. Dizzily, he walks forward to look at the paperwork Lance pushed at him. 

"Can I think about it first?" He requests. "This is a lot to process, and I'd need time to read through the paperwork anyway." 

"Of course," Lance agrees promptly. "Do try to give me your answer soon, though." 

* * *

gym leader blue of the viridian city gym

#blue blathers #hmmmm could work could work #idk it's an option

49 notes

* * *

"Gym Leader, huh?" Daisy pokes at her bento box, eyebrows raised. "It's definitely something." 

"But?" Blue asks, because he'd like to think he knows his sister by now. He sips at his miso soup. 

"If you wanna go for it, I'll support you." Daisy says into her bento, "But I really feel like battling isn't the greatest idea for your mental health right now." 

"How so?" Blue presses. He's genuinely uncertain of what his sister means by that, because he loves battling, why wouldn't he—

"Didn't you get beaten by Red and then refuse to battle even a tiny Spearow?" 

—oh. Blue parses over that, reexamines his memories of those two weeks afterward, where Red's face was  _everywhere_ and the idea of battling made him sick to his stomach. "Well," He says at last, "it's an option, at least." 

"Sure, sure." Daisy hums, and steals his soy sauce. 

* * *

BLUESOAK SAID: fite me m8

BLUEOAKOKAY REPLIED: 

_you_. you stole my brand 

(ง'̀-'́)ง square up thot 

#bluesoak #asked and answered #i will fight you dont test me

* * *

 MACHOPPING SAID: pls come to viridian it's a mess over here

BLUEOAKOKAY REPLIED: 

hmmmmmm maybe

 #machopping #asked and answered

* * *

"How was shadowing Grandpa?" Daisy asks. 

He's lazy and content from the food, so he doesn't immediately scowl and start ranting. "Awkward," He says honestly. "Not bad, exactly, but it wasn't great, you know? I guess...three out of five stars?" 

"Better than usual!" Daisy says brightly. She's trying so hard. Blue can sometimes appreciate that. 

Sometimes.

"It was kinda draining," He confesses. "I almost up and left before I even got to the lab." He picks up a used napkin and tosses it deliberately wide, so he has an excuse to not see Daisy's expression.

He and Red used to do that all the time, tossing napkins and trying to get them into the trash can. He used to be so happy whenever they landed inside. He kind of misses it.  

She makes a sad, punched out noise and he winces. Why-oh-why does he have to care so much about Daisy's happiness? He isn't going to take it back though. 

He tosses the napkin again. It lands in the trash. He doesn't feel anything new. 

Hm.

* * *

awkward situation + hard, emotional conversation with my sister = not fun™ 

#blue blathers #thank you daisy

42 notes

* * *

things blue oak regrets, an incomplete list: 

  * not punching red in the face before he disappeared 
  * having emotions
  * having emotions for people
  * too much
  * caring
  * have i mentioned i'd like to punch red in the face



#blue blathers 

54 notes

* * *

 He wonders, sometimes, where Red ran off to. Somewhere remote—nobody's seen hide or hair of him since that day when they finally checked his room and found it emptied out, no champion in sight. 

He wonders, because maybe, just maybe, if they knew where he was, Daisy and Gramps could finally pay attention to him like he'd like them to, and then he barely resists slapping himself, because that wouldn't ever,  _ever_ work. 

(He wonders for selfish reasons, because then his excess emotions for his rival [his best friend] can be ignored). 

He wonders, and he worries, even if he'll never admit it to anyone ever. 

* * *

Things Blue Oak won't admit to himself, an incomplete list: 

  * He misses Red so much it hurts.
  * He would literally die for Gramps' approval.
  * Making Daisy smile is so much better than making her angry. 
  * Akane cares about him. 
  * He cares about Akane. 
  * He cares. 



* * *

"You know," Daisy says, on one of their weekly lunch dates, "your Pokémon are probably bored out of their minds."   
  
"What?" Blue replies, startled. He chases his rice around his plate. 

"Not battling?" Daisy hints; she's clearly up to something. 

"They're at Gramps' lab." Blue points out, baffled. "They've basically got it made." 

"But don't you think they miss you?" Daisy says. "Moping is fine and all, but you've got Pokémon to consider." 

Blue groans. "You just want me to spend time with Gramps, don't you." 

"NO." Daisy says, too loud, too quick. She wilts under his unimpressed stare. "At least, not completely." She adds, weakly.   
  
Blue's stare turns flat. "If you can convince Gramps to come to me directly and  _ask_ ," He stresses the last word, "then yeah, I'll spend time with him. Otherwise," He shrugs, "no dice." 

* * *

He's spent the last two hours going over gym leader paperwork, his brain hurts, his eyes hurt, and he's generally miserable. 

He picks up his Pokégear and dials a number. In a grave, tired, croaky sort of voice, he says, "Lance, I'm not going to become gym leader."

"Hello to you too." Lance replies, and then his brain catches up to the conversation. "Ah. I see." 

"Thanks for the offer, but—" He blinks rapidly, pain shooting through his skull, "no thanks." 

"Thank you for letting me know." He hangs up without saying anything else.

Blue groans, deep and heartfelt. 

What is he going to do with his life?

* * *

update: i am Not going to be gym leader 

#blue blathers #lmao sorry to any disappointed fangirls #if you even exist

65 notes

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

To be completely honest, Blue's never understood Red, not in the way Akane seems to think he does. She calls him Red's best friend. 

Nobody's his best friend. Blue stopped being his best friend years ago—they were, what, eight?—and Red had stolen Gramps' attention away and never, ever given it back. 

Blue stopped being his friend when they stood in that stirile white lab, three Pokéballs there for the choosing, and Red took Charmander, knowing full well that Blue'd wanted a Charmander since he was three years old.

He tries not to step into the lab, if he can help it. It makes him feel weirdly suffocated, like there's no air in that room, only the feelings Red and his—his  _perfect_ self make him feel, until he's choking on memories.

* * *

tfw you look back at where you were and feel empty with where you are

#blue overshares with strangers #blue blathers i used to feel like a king #now im a puppet hanging by a string #that rhymes haha

35 notes 

* * *

 

"Blue. May I sit?" Gramps says. 

"If you want." Blue replies, scrolling through twitter lazily. "It is  _your_ house." He pauses his scrolling. On his twitter feed is a link to a tacky gossip website. That's not unusual. What's unusual is the headline. He reads it, blinks, reads it again. 

And promptly starts cackling. Gramps, hovering uncertainly, stares at him, baffled. He manages to collect himself enough to click the link, reads one sentence in, and starts laughing louder. 

"Blue?" Gramps hedges. 

"Yeah?" He manages. He scans the rest of the article, still amused. 

 "Why are you laughing?"

 By way of answer, Blue reads, dramatically, "Professor Oak's Illegitimate Grandson? Is the esteemed Pokémon Professor lying about which prodigy from Pallet is his grandson?" 

Gramps blinks, seemingly genuinely confused. "Why would they say that?"

Blue laughs again, shortly, and then takes another look at his face. "...You can't be serious."

Gramps looks him in the eye. "Well I am." He says. 

Blue can't even speak, he's so mad. He spends an entire minute just sputtering, before finally managing to speak. "Listen, I can't even remember the last time you told me you love me. Or that you're proud of me. I can't remember the last time you smiled at me. But Red gets your undivided focus or attention even when he's literally just—standing there." He sighs. "The only thing I'm surprised about is that it took this long for an article like this to surface." 

* * *

FEAROWSANDFLYGONS ASKED: what do you think about the recent article about your grandfather? 

BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED: 

#asked and answered #fearowsandflygons 

* * *

 "Have you seen the article?" Blue asks Daisy, who immediately starts giggling. 

"There's even been speculation that that's why Red disappeared." She tells him seriously. 

"Oh, what?" Blue says, delighted. "That's—" 

"I know!" She agrees, even though he hasn't said anything. Sibling bond or something like that. "Grandpa has been pestering me about 'why would they assume such a thing of us, Daisy?'. I'm the biggest fan of you two getting along, you know that, but even I can see where they're coming from." 

"Right." Blue steals her sushi, which she lets go with a tolerant smile. "I don't really  _want_ to fight him over everything, but it's just—" He shrugs, frustrated. "Every time I'm around him, all he can talk about is Red. Or Pokémon. Or Red with Pokémon." 

"Do you think he needs a therapist?" Daisy asks, lightly but with an edge of concern. 

"Wouldn't hurt!" Blue opines. They laugh together, and that's the end of that. 

* * *

Or so he thought. He and Daisy exchange A Look as Gramps sits them both down. "Daisy, Blue," He starts, expression grave, "I'm sure you both know what this is about." 

"The article?" Daisy guesses, trying her best to look interested instead of bored. Blue makes no such attempt. 

"Yes." Gramps clears his throat. "I wanted to—well, Blue pointed out that I may have been ignoring the two of you?" He looks to Daisy, obviously hoping she'll say that he hasn't been. 

"Well, you kind of have." Daisy says, carefully neutral. After a moment of Blue's raised eyebrows, she amends, "Okay, you have." 

"Ah." Gramps replies awkwardly. "I—that was never—it wasn't—"

Blue wonders how people think Gramps is a good speaker. "Listen, maybe you never wanted things to turn out this way." He says, fingers steepled, eyes serious. "But the thing is, what you meant and what you did? Completely different ballparks. You need to realize that you had a responsibility to us, not to Akane and Red." 

"They could've took care of themselves," Daisy agrees. Blue catches her eye in silent support. "Akane was, is, and will be a grown woman who could have managed well even without your constant hovering." 

"Well I—that is to say—" Gramps says, floundering. "I made a mistake, and I apologize for that." 

"Apology noted." Blue replies. 

"I wish to try to make things right," Gramps continues, and then quietly adds, "if you'll let me. You are under no obligations, I want you to know that first." He stands, hesitates, and puts a warm hand on Blue and Daisy's shoulders, apparently bolstered when they don't shake him off. 

When he's well and truly out of sight, Blue mouths, "What just happened?" 

Daisy shrugs, wide eyed. 

* * *

One of Gramps' aides runs up to Blue. "Hey!" He calls. 

"Hello." Blue returns, confused. "Can I help you with something?" 

"Your grandfather wants to speak to you," He says. 

Blue barely resists groaning. "Got it." 

* * *

"Gramps?" Blue calls, vaguely intimidated. "You wanted to see me?" 

"Yes," Gramps says, frazzled. "I merely—you said you were interested in Mega Evolution?" 

"I am." He replies, surprised despite himself that Gramps remembered that. 

"Well," He says, "I managed to get you Sycamore's number so you two can speak. Maybe you could intern for him if you find yourself interested enough." 

Blue can feel himself smiling. "Sounds good." There's a pause, but it's not as awkward as it usually could be. "Hey, Gramps?"

"...Yes, Blue?"

"Thank you." 

* * *

life's improving!!!!!!

#blue blathers #im :,) #and also emo in general

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

"I have a boyfriend now." Daisy announces casually, grocery bags swinging in her hands.

Blue freezes, turns to look at her, and says, very carefully, "Okay." Asking to meet this mystery boy of Daisy's is probably the smart thing to do. Probably. "Can I meet him?" 

"I was hoping you'd ask!" She smiles brightly. "We'll put the groceries away first. Then I'll text him to tell him that you know about us and want to meet him." 

"Cool, cool. Let me know what he says." 

* * *

 my sister has a boyfriend

#blue blathers #idk how to feel about this #like #im happy for her but also #what if he's a jerk #or something like that #blue overshares with strangers 

53 notes

* * *

"Tell me more about your new boyfriend?" Blue requests. He pauses, then mumbles, almost to himself, "I need a social life. Talking to you is great and all, but you can't be the only person I talk to."

"You really do," Daisy agrees, braiding her hair idly. 

Blue's Eevee bounds over to him. "Vuh vui!" She cries, jumping into his arms. He catches her, only a little startled to see his Arcanine trot over too. 

"Hey," He says gently. Eevee snuggles herself into his arms. Arcanine settles in near him. He turns his attention back to Daisy, eyebrows raised expectantly. 

"His name is Bill," She offers, first. "He's a self-proclaimed Pokémon fanatic and he lives on Cerulean Cape. We met because I was running errands for Grandpa and accidentally mistook him for one of the Lab Assistants off duty. I apologized, dropped off the parcel, and we got to talking." Her voice has gone dreamy and breathy, eyes misted over like she's going to cry or something. 

"Did he ask you to coffee or something?" Blue guesses, stroking Eevee and leaning against Arcanine, who seems content to doze lightly.

" _I_ asked _him_ to coffee." She corrects, unbraiding her hair and running her fingers through it before restarting the entire process. "And really, I asked him to the beach, so. We had coffee there, at least." 

"Romantic." He notes, not quite deadpan. "Did he kiss you?" 

"With consent!" She grins brightly. 

"Moving swiftly along before I get more details—" Blue says, too quickly, "—he seems okay. I'm reserving judgement 'till I meet him, though." 

"Fair," Daisy shrugs, finger combing her hair again. "I'm really hoping you'll like him. I feel like—I don't know anything for sure, but I think I could love him, if we stay together long enough." 

Blue whistles softly, the body heat from Arcanine making him languid and content. "Must be a pretty okay guy, then." 

"Just okay?" Daisy teases, grass tickling at her feet. 

"Reserving judgement!" 

* * *

 Blue and Daisy walk into the house, seeing their grandfather squinting at his laptop at the kitchen table. 

"Yo, Gramps." Blue greets, putting the milk in the fridge. "What's got you looking so confused?" 

"Blue," Gramps looks up, adding, "Daisy," when he sees her putting things away as well. 

"Hello." Daisy says, turning around briefly to smile at him. "Are you okay? You seem stressed." She observes, twirling herself expertly around Blue to get to the fridge while he goes to the kitchen table, where the groceries are. 

"I—this is virtually unreadable." Gramps complains, frowning. Blue moves to read it over his shoulder. "I was looking for opinions on Pokémon study by a younger audience, mostly out of curiosity, but—" He gestures, frustrated. 

* * *

pokestudy-fire-types  **Follow**

kkgkgfh i would die for arcanines/growlithes,,,,,like?? when they do their lil Thing where they move to protect u cause they think ur in danger even when ur not?????? it makes me :,) 

#pokestudy #i love you lil puppers 

* * *

 "Same." Blue says quietly, choked up. All of a sudden, he misses his Arcanine fiercely, even though he saw her literally just half an hour ago.  

"You understand this?" Gramps asks, skeptically. 

"'Course." Blue tells him roughly, still a little choked up. After a moment of Gramps staring expectantly, he sighs and makes a noise akin to that first keysmash. "I would die for Arcanines and Growlithes. Like..." He trails off. 

Gramps keeps watching, raptly. He continues, making sure to add that same uncertain tone at the start, "Like, when they do their lil' thing," Emphasis included. He can see Gramps' eyes widening, so he continues. "Where they move to protect you 'cause they think you're in danger even when you're not? It makes me—" He pauses, thinks of his own Arcanine, and can feel himself smiling softly. 

"Fascinating!" Gramps says. "You managed to parse all that from—" He gestures at his computer. 

"Yeah."  Blue shrugs, "I think it's because there are a lot more online friendships now, and you can't really convey body language through text, so we all just came up with workarounds." 

Daisy finishes putting the groceries away, so Blue turns and walks out the door, completely missing the impressed look that Gramps is giving him. 

* * *

ho boy. explaining internet lingo to my gramps in the form of a @pokestudy-fire-types post was,,,,,,,, An Experience™

#blue blathers 

535 notes

 _pokestudy-fire-types reblogged your post_  

samuel oak knows who i am?!?!?!?! fgdasafa 

#not pokestudy #im???? shrieking???????? #asdfghkl; 

* * *

 VIRIDIANVINTAGE SAID: how do you feel about pinap berries on pizza?

 BLUEOAKOKAY REPLIED: 

 #asked and answered #viridianvintage #dont talk to me about that #it sucks dont @ me  #but john mulaney's great #i love him 

40 notes

* * *

it's three am and i cant sleep! 

#blue blathers #hahaha somebody please shut my brain off #or just like knock me out #that would work too

45 notes

* * *

 ME, VERY CALMLY, TO THE BROKEN COFFEE MACHINE AT SEVEN AM: you have the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair

DAISY, ALSO TO THE COFFEE MACHINE: i will replace all of your unnecessary bits with old broken wires

GRAMPS, CONCERNED: what 

#blue blathers #just another day at the oak household lmao

32 notes

* * *

"You two concern me." Gramps says. 

"Thank you." Daisy returns pleasantly, on her phone googling, "what are the unnecessary parts of a coffee machine".

Blue just grunts something into the table that sounds vaguely like, "I want coffee." 

 "Why?"

"It's seven AM. The spite machine in my brain isn't operational, so I need coffee to function." Blue mumbles. "I am made of spite and coffee, in that order." 

Gramps blinks, concern skyrocketing. What have these two been up to while he wasn't paying attention? 

"I hate myself for waking up this early!" Daisy says, brightly, out of nowhere. "I can't get back to sleep and also I can't take my frustrations out on the coffee machine!" 

"Blue?" Gramps prods at him after five minutes. Blue's head is lying between his arms and he hasn't moved since he sat down and typed out something on the phone on the kitchen counter and proceeded to put his head on the table. 

"Hngh." Blue says tiredly. "I crave death." 

* * *

i! hate! my! self! :)

 #blue blathers #hhhh why did i need to wake up after two (2) hours of sleep??????? 

54 notes

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i may write a spinoff in red's pov at one point. if that'd interest you, let me know!
> 
> also, in this au, they only left for their pokemon journeys when they turned 12.

"Happy birthday!" Daisy cheers when he stumbles downstairs. "How does being fourteen feel?" 

"Like being thirteen." Blue says, voice cracking a little. He winces. "In other news, puberty sucks." 

Daisy laughs. "Didn't you have puberty last year, too?" 

"It still sucks." He deadpans, sliding onto one of the kitchen chairs. "Do I have to leave the house today?" 

"Unless you count the lab, no." She smiles brightly, a look in her eyes that he can't quite identify. "I did invite Bill over, though." 

"Joy." Blue replies around a mouth full of bread roll. 

* * *

its my birthday today and therefore i am one year closer to my hypothetical death 

#blue blathers #let's pretend today's a great day #instead of a mediocre one where my gramps will forget #it's even my birthday lmao #blue overshares with strangers

 57 notes

* * *

The doorbell rings. Blue's eyebrows raise. "This your boyfriend?" He checks, looking over at Daisy. 

"Either him or Akane, she promised she'd stop by." Daisy says, already moving to answer it. The door opens to reveal a kind looking, flustered man whose smile widens three sizes when he looks at Daisy. 

That's the boyfriend, then. Blue scrutinizes him for a moment, and then, when they just stand there smiling at each other like dopey idiots, calls, "Are you actually going to invite him in, or...?" 

"Oh!" Daisy smiles awkwardly, stepping aside. She says something quietly to Bill, who steps inside with a polite nod at Blue. 

"Happy birthday." Bill says, smiling. 

 "Thanks," Blue replies, and decides that Bill seems okay. He's clearly devoted to Daisy, he seems warm and good and nice, and he doesn't give off an "I-am-Mr-Perfect-and-also-a-serial-killer" vibe.

When Bill isn't looking, Blue shoots Daisy a thumbs up, mouthing, "Good choice." She smiles, sitting down across from him and pulling Bill in next to her. 

"So, Bill." Blue says, and internally smirks when Bill jumps about three feet in his seat. "You can chill, I'm not here to lecture you." He points out, eyebrows raised. 

"You're...not?" Bill echoes, doubtfully. 

"No." Blue replies, eyes predatory, and smiles like a Sharpedo. "I know you won't need it. Don't prove me wrong." 

There is a very quiet gulp. "Got it." Bill manages, eyes wide. 

"Good!" He says, smile dropping, gaze relaxing. "Now, I happened to spot a gift...?" 

* * *

annalise liana  
@annaliana  

hmmm suspicious™ (for those of u who cant get the image to load just look up professor oak grandson conspiracy)

 

 

>  The recent speculation that Professor Oak may be lying about which boy is his grandson certainly hasn't been helped by the fact that Blue Oak, when asked about the article on his official Tumblr, expressed no real shock at the idea. 
> 
> Is there, perhaps, a grain of truth to this tale? Pallet Town's prestigious Pokémon Professor has remained suspiciously silent on this matter, choosing not to engage with the paparazzi that confronted him about this, merely giving them all a disapproving look before brushing past them. 

* * *

 Blue's phone suddenly  _explodes_. Everybody and their grandmas seven generations back are atting him, wanting to know if he's not really the grandson of Professor Oak.

"Yikes," Bill mumbles, watching Blue's phone notifs go off like crazy. 

"I...should probably take care of that." Blue says. He turns his twitter notifications off. 

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@bluesoak 

listen to the best of my knowledge gramps is really my gramps but idk he did favor red by like 5000% so????

10:35 AM - Jan 14 

* * *

Blue opens his gift. He's not really sure what he's expecting, but a new watch sits there. It's black, simple, and would probably suit both formal and casual affairs. Also, it's not an analog clock. He likes it already. "Woah, this is cool." He remarks, eyebrows raising. "Did Daisy tell you that I needed a new watch?"

"Yeah, she wouldn't stop talking about it for about half an hour before I told her that I would buy you one." 

"Oh, god, you get that too?" Blue says despairingly, slipping the watch on. "Just like, 'oh also this thing is here. Did I mention the thing? Blue, isn't the thing cool?' Daisy, whatever you were talking about was either cool or not cool the first time, repeating it isn't going to change my mind." 

Bill raises his plastic cup in solidarity. Daisy looks faintly embarrassed. "Well, I mean—" She says, and then slumps, defeated. "Okay, so you guys have a point." 

* * *

ok daisy's bf has my seal of approval. 

#he's cool #blue blathers #he also clearly adores daisy so 

50 notes 

_skydiving reblogged your post_

don't you mean your  **seel**  of approval?

#im not sorry

_blueoakokay reblogged your post_

istg— 

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@bluesoak

shoutout to @imknownasakane for baking me an awesome birthday cake

3:04 pm - Jan 14  

* * *

Blue waits impatiently as Daisy says goodbye to Bill. He's happy for her, of course, but she's been talking to him for five minutes. "Finally," He mumbles when she steps back inside, but she looks startled. "Sis, what's up?" He asks, louder this time. 

"Grandpa spent the last five minutes interrogating Bill." She says, flushed. 

Oh. He blinks, torn between laughing and worrying. "Is he okay?" He asks, half-laughing. 

"I think so?" Daisy shrugs. "He seemed fine when I saw him leaving, and he smiled at me, so..." 

Blue sighs in relief. "Good, I like him. You know, as much as I can like a guy who you started dating recently." 

"Also, I read your tweet about Grandpa." Daisy says, ignoring the second part. "You do realize you're only encouraging the media, right?" 

Blue shrugs. "Hey, you were there for our childhood. You saw exactly what led me to that conclusion and you know it." 

"I wish there was a real life version of that face." Daisy mumbles to herself, then takes her phone out. 

"What face?" Blue asks, just as his phone beeps with a text from Daisy. ": _/_ " It says. "Oh, that." Blue realizes, laughingly. 

* * *

yall, what's the real life version of :/ ??????

#blue blathers #daisy just brought it up #i havent been able to stop thinking abt it #help me 

36 notes

* * *

  **lazy daisy**

**January 14, 8:08 pm**

 daisy what is the real life version of :/ i havent been able to stop thinking abt it

blue ffs just eat your leftover cake 

:/ is smth too powerful for mere human expression anyway

* * *

 "Why are you two texting instead of talking," Gramps says to no one in particular. 

"Because you can express so many different things through text that you can't in regular conversation." Blue says without looking up from his phone, the  _duh_ heavily implied. 

Gramps goes into one of his unimpressed you-have-disappointed-me-again silences. 

Daisy sighs. Without looking up from her phone, she says, "What's the protocol for passive aggressiveness in real life conversations?" 

"Um." Gramps stumbles. After a long moment, he tells her, "I don't believe there is one." 

"Blue, what's the protocol for passive aggressiveness online?" 

"A closed-mouth smile." Blue replies immediately. 

Above their heads, unbeknownst to them, Gramps mouths, "What," to himself, utterly confused and bamboozled. 

* * *

**gramps**

**January 15, 12:00 am**

yesterday was my birthday, by the way


	6. Chapter 6

three reasons red is stupid for running away, a (not very serious) essay by blue oak (under a cut tho) 

you all know red, right? that one strong but silent type kid who somehow beat up team rocket's boss (seriously how tf), caught all the kanto pokémon, became champion, and then ran away. 

yeah, i know, i don't get it either. 

so anyway. that was a terrible, terrible decision. here's why

Read More

* * *

first off, does he not realize the absolute headache it was for the league when it got out that he just went harry houdini on all our asses? i wasn't even a part of it for very long but it was just. constant headaches. all the time. lance even said to me once that "red disappearing may be even more catastrophic than all of team rocket combined" so...Yikes. 

secondly, everybody went MAD trying to find him or figure out why he left or blaming me/the league/literally anyone who could have potentially even a billionth percent made him Do That (thanks @ literally thousands of people on twitter i love you too lmao) which was an entire Thing and also stressed everybody in the world out

by the way, i think maybe there's a conspiracy where the remains of team rocket kidnapped him? which is dumb bc if red were able to defeat the Boss what would some grunts (and maybe an admin?) do to him really

and if there were somebody more powerful than giovanni why would they be a grunt. also why would giovanni allow someone more powerful than him into team rocket when they coulda overthrown him easily?????? i have Many questions about that theory 

okay so moving on to the final reason, nobody knows where he is. that means that there's probably no people around him, how is he going to heal himself/his pokemon if somebody gets something more than a couple of bruises???? @ red you didn't think this through very well did you

tldr; the league had a headache Constantly which was Not Fun, everybody went insane trying to find him or pin the blame on somebody else, which was Also Not Fun, conspiracy theories make no sense, and red probably has no human company what is he doing

#blue blathers #long post #whoops #champion red

573 notes

* * *

"Hey, I challenge you to a battle!" A girl (around his age, maybe?) cries at him, stance sure and eyes confident.

Blue's first thought is  _whomst_. The people around him exchange unsure looks. 

"Me?" Blue says, and then has to stifle laughter when she confirms that he's who she meant. "Hey, out of curiosity, how many badges do you have?" He asks, hoping that she at least has, like, seven or something. 

"Four." The girl says smugly. Blue stares at her. Is she joking? She wants to challenge him with four gym badges? "Impressed?" 

"No." Blue replies, deadpan. To the nearest employee, he motions towards the new clothes he's carrying, and says, "Where should I put these? I was hoping to try them on, but..." He trails off with a significant look at the impatient girl. 

"I'll hold onto them for you." The employee offers. Blue nods gratefully and turns his attention to the cocky girl. 

* * *

The results are pretty one-sided. Even though she has six Pokémon and good strategies (not great, but she could probably get there), Blue's faced off against both the Elite Four and Lance, and won all of those battles. 

"W—who are you?" She (he never bothered to learn her name) demands, returning her final fallen Pokémon. "You're strong!" 

He decides to humor her. "Blue Oak, at your service." He replies, patting his (not really all that hurt) Blastoise in thanks, receiving a happy noise, before recalling him with a flick of his wrist. She gapes. He raises his eyebrows. "Impressed?" He asks dryly, an intentional echo of her. 

"But—but...didn't—I don't—nobody ever mentioned you being this strong!" She protests, "I should have known!"

Blue raises his eyebrows. "People tend to gloss over the rival." 

* * *

a girl w/ four (4) badges just tried to challenge me and was shocked when i beat her even after i gave my name 

#blue blathers #dissapointed but not surprised #people tend to forget i can Battle Good 

38 notes

* * *

"So, what's your name?" Blue says conversationally. This girl reminds him a little of himself. He wants to be able to follow her career to see if she can succeed where he failed. 

"Kelly. Kelly Prince." She replies quietly, still shocked. 

"Wanna exchange numbers?" He offers. She stares at him. "You're a good battler. Not great, not yet, but you're getting there. I wanna watch it happen." 

"Okay."

* * *

@kellyprince followed you 

@kellyprince favorited a tweet you were mentioned in 

you started following @kellyprince

* * *

"Good news, I kind of have a friend now." Blue announces, strolling into the house. 

"Congrats!" Daisy says genuinely, from the couch. "What's their name?" 

"Kelly Prince." Blue replies, taking his sneakers off. 

"Oh, that girl whose twitter and instagram you follow now?" Daisy smiles. "She's cute, don't you think?" 

"Not my type." Blue dismisses, jumping up from the crouching position he was in before. "But sure."

"What  _is_ your type?" Daisy asks. 

"Guys." Blue deadpans. "Exclusively guys."  

"Oh! Okay then." 

* * *

DAISY: what's your type

ME: guys

DAISY: oh okay then

#blue blathers #in other news im officially out to my sister 

51 notes

* * *

  **lazy daisy**

Jan 15, 2:06 pm

what would pignite look like if they had long thin bodies instead of short chunky ones

blue wtf are you high

it's a genuine question  
_Read 2:07 pm_

seriously   
_Read 2:07 pm_

damn it daisy   
_Read 2:08 pm_

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@bluesoak 

i think gramps is avoiding me lmao

2:25 pm - Jan 15 

* * *

  **lazy daisy**

Jan 15, 2:27 pm

grandpa is definitely avoiding you and that's just the truth

* * *

**kell's hell**

so hypothetically how would i go about raising an abandoned eevee kit

level with me

do you have an abandoned eevee kit

[hesmol.jpg] 

nurse joy said i should keep him warm so he's in a blanket 

im????? lov him??????

ok so first u should probably buy baby pokemon formula 

i'd suggest going to celadon and buying it there 

ok cool thankyou

which brand

thalia's pokefoods 

ok 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

"Apparently Professor Birch is coming to stay with us for a couple days." Daisy announces. "I'm letting you know so that you don't get surprised, but also Grandpa's still avoiding you. What did you say to him?" 

Blue snorts. Unlocking his phone, he shows her the midnight text. "This." He deadpans, watching as she reads it and her expression goes through many emotions, finally settling on annoyance. 

"This? That's all?  _That's_ why he's avoiding you?" She sputters incoherently for about five minutes. Blue watches, amused. "Sometimes, I hate our grandfather." She mumbles into her hands

"Oh, big mood." Blue says, and stretches out lazily against Arcanine's furry back, very nearly bumping his head into Alakazam in the process, who gives his trainer a tolerant, fond look and teleports to his side, all while playing Sudoku. 

Daisy strokes Eevee's head and smiles when she purrs happily. 

"So, Birch." Blue hedges. "When did Gramps tell you about this?" 

"This morning," Daisy replies distractedly, scratching Eevee behind the ear. "You were still asleep." 

"Coward." Blue mumbles. Daisy snorts.  

* * *

blueoakokay ⇆ replaying-rachel **follow**

id like to scream into the void and have it reply with comforting advice and maybe get a hug from it

#a forever mood #void hugs sound great #and advice would be Very fucking appreciated

42,536 notes

* * *

"Samuel, thank you for inviting me into your home." Birch says, smiling, reaching out to clasp Gramps' hand in his own. 

"Well, of course, Bayze." Gramps replies, shaking his hand before dropping it. "It was no problem at all."

The professor's name is  _Bayze_? Blue tries nobly to restrain his laughter. "Pleasure to meet you, Professor." He manages. 

"You can laugh, I know it's funny." Birch tells him, and Blue breaks down cackling. 

"B-Bayze—" He says, and laughs harder. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**January 16, 1:43 PM**

did u know professor birch is called bayze

excuse me what

his name is bayze birch

LMAOOOO YOU'RE JOKING 

 

nope 

OH MY GOD

* * *

Daisy walks in just as Blue's composing himself. "Good morning!" She chirps cheerfully. "You must be Professor Birch! It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." 

"Ah, Daisy Oak!" Bayze(!!!) says, reaching out a hand to shake hers. "Wonderful to meet you as well, of course! Now, Samuel, I believe you said something about getting me temporarily set up in your lab?" 

"Yes, if you would follow me, you and I can unload whatever you've brought into the lab and sort things out there." Gramps says, arms crossed uncomfortably like they're his shield against the world or something. 

* * *

im tired of ppl excusing their family members whenever they fuck up

like i get it u love them or whatever but that doesn't mean that they're perfect and correct and nice and good all the time

#blue blathers #im just ??#so tired

64 notes

* * *

Blue strolls casually into Gramps' backyard, only to see Birch on his knees, pressing his face Literally Into a tunnel or something. "Professor," He says, weaving out of the way of three passing Psyducks, to the Professor's back, "what're you doing?" Birch has his head shoved into a tunnel made by a Sandslash. 

Blue is concerned. 

"Ah, Blue! I'm studying the condition of the soil in your grandfather's backyard!" He replies cheerily, apparently either not noticing or not caring about the glob of dirt on his cheek. 

"...Why are you studying soil, and why can't you just grab some off the ground instead of sticking your face into a tiny little tunnel?" Blue glances at the unstable tunnel. Would poking it with a shoe kick dirt everywhere? Yes. Does Blue still want to do it? Oh, of course. 

Birch blinks. "I didn't think of that." He says. Blue stares at him. "Anyway! I wanted to test the soil—your grandfather's ranch is renowned for taking such good care of many different types on one type of habitat, which has always interested me."  

"Why?" Blue repeats. "What's interesting about habitats?"   
  
"Well, what  _isn't_ interesting about them? Different Pokémon use the same space in different ways, adapt with the space, and even change the space to how they see fit." He says, gradually getting more starry-eyed. "Is there anything that always somehow fascinated you, even if it may have seemed boring to other people?" 

Red's ability to just understand Pokémon immediately is the first thing that pops into Blue's head. When he mentions it—hesitantly—to the Professor, the man's eyes crinkle around the corners when he smiles. 

"What?" Blue asks. 

"It sounds to me, young man, that you are interested in Pokémon behavior." Birch says. 

He pauses to parse over that. He's always been interested in how his Pokémon react to things, is able to recognise his Pokémon's moods with only a single glance at their body language, and is very proud of that fact, if only privately.   
  
"Yeah, I think that sounds about right." He opines slowly. "I just never really had a name for it, you know? I knew I wanted to understand like Red does, but I just thought  _oh, you know, another thing the golden boy can do, that's probably why I want to understand_ , but it—it's so much more than that." 

Birch smiles. "See, now you know how I feel about habitats."

* * *

 ok i have just realized: pokémon behavior is Hella Cool and Hella Interesting and anyone who disagrees can gtfo

#blue blathers #does this count as pokestudy???? #idk lets just not tag it with that yet #feel free to ask questions #but expect dubious quality 

52 notes

* * *

ANONYMOUS ASKED: okay, you have an arcanine, right? so u probably had a growlithe, right? my growlithe keeps wagging his tail in battle until abt halfway thru, what's up with that? he can't be happy he's battling and then become upset can he??? am i forcing him into something he doesn't wanna do????????

BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED: 

well from what ive observed, this happens in a lot of canine pokémon. it's his way of trying to use up his excess energy. more likely, he just uses up all of his excess halfway through the battle. 

and as for whether or not he's not enjoying battling - he probably is, if he's training regularly and willing to follow your commands on the battlefield. if he's training but not listening to you, it could be that he just sees you as inexperienced. 

#asked and answered #i hope that helped a little? #eh screw it im tagging it as #pokestudy #behavioral pokestudy

500 notes

* * *

**lazy daisy**  

gramps is going thru tumblr's pokestudy tag again

he choked on his own spit? is he ok

he's getting up

is he going to ur room? 

blue

blue what'd u do

i have a tumblr post tagged "pokestudy" maybe he saw that

 maybe he wants more translations

idk anymore

 


	8. Chapter 8

"Yo, what's happenin." Blue greets when Gramps shoves his door open. He's the epitome of chill. "I see you've stopped ignoring me." 

Gramps goes shock still for about twenty entire seconds. He visibly decides to ignore Blue's little jab, which Blue mourns for about ten seconds before Gramps unfreezes, says "What is this." And shoves a phone in Blue's face. 

* * *

i-isabella **follow**  

pidgeys doing the floof uwu 

#they so cute #isabella chats 

53,423 notes 

* * *

"I thought you were supposed to be working." Blue says, eyebrows raising despite himself. "Why are you on Tumblr?" 

"Uh." Gramps manages eloquently. "Pokéstudy somehow brought me here." 

Blue has a sneaking suspicion that that's not quite true. "Right. Okay." He makes sure to make it sound slow and unbelieving. 

"But what does this  _mean_." Gramps repeats, not rising to his jibe. 

"Figure it out." Blue invites, completely fed up even with this five minute interaction. Gramps stalks out of his room huffily. God, how is he even supposed to pronounce "uwu"? His brain, whenever it reads it out loud, makes a Stereotypical Anime Noise™ that he's loathe to ever say out loud. 

Five minutes later, Daisy sends him a screenshot, captioned "did you know abt this????". It's a text conversation with Gramps. Blue scans it and then reads through it again, helpless laughter choking up his throat. 

_yeah he came to me first,_ he types back, completely unrepentant. 

* * *

**grandpa**

**Jan 16, 8:47 pm**

Daisy, what is "uwu"? 

i'm sorry what

The text abbreviation "uwu".   
  
What does it mean?

ho boy   
  
so, uh. it's not an abbreviation. 

What? What is it, then?

it's a face, meant to look like an anime character.

I don't see it

[anime-uwu-face.jpg] 

* * *

"My grandchildren confuse me." Blue hears, just as he comes out of his room.

"That's nice, Samuel." Bayze says, clearly done with Gramps' woes, which is the biggest mood he's experienced in weeks. 

"They don't seem to—to  _respect_ me." Gramps continues, apparently uncaring of whether or not he has a captive audience. "They should respect me." 

Ah. Yes. Respect a man who gave him grand-daddy issues and ignored him for favor of a guy who is  _supposedly_ not his grandson nor related to him in any other fashion. Right. How much sense that makes. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**Jan 16, 9:03 pm**

any tips for facing koga

antidotes 

all of the antidotes

ok but like what's his strategy

he poisons you and then wears you down that way

his pokemon are all Fast so either get a tank or smth that can Dodge

or yenno a steel type

ok cool

would u like updates on my boy

oh hell yes

[he smile.jpg]

[baby boy.jpg]

[look at the blep.jpg]

[mlem.jpg]

sdfghjhgfd !!!!

hard same

* * *

**bill nye the science guy**

**Jan 16, 9:15 pm**

hypothetical question, what kind of gifts does your sister like

 

are you and daisy fighting

no, just

how much does she like jewelry

solid 9/10

but don't buy her more than like four necklaces  

okay

so how much would she like this

[bracelet.jpg]

she'd probably agree to marry u on the spot tbh

* * *

Blue can feel his eyebrows raising, impressed despite himself. The bracelet is a simple thing, just a silver chain with a daisy in the center, surrounded by two pink roses. 

He's not one for jewelry, but he knows what his sister likes, and he can appreciate a nice piece without being scared that it undermines his masculinity or whatever. 

He literally sends out monsters who fight for him. He is protected by a fire breathing dog and a cannon-backed turtle, among others. He has literally nothing to be ashamed of by enjoying accessories. 

* * *

things i have had to translate for my grandfather, an incomplete list by blue oak

  1. key-smashing
  2. capital letters as Emphasis 
  3. unnecessary??? question marks????? to convey tentativeness???????



things i refuse to translate, an incomplete list by blue oak

  1. uwu
  2. owo



#blue blathers #if i ever translate uwu or owo  #just know i have lost all my dignity #and mourn for me 

53 notes

* * *

blueoakokay ⇆ safarizoned

okay but what if professor oak accidentally  _fathered_ red. listen to me for a sec, it makes SO MUCH SENSE. red obviously takes after his mom in appearance, but oak's obviously his dad, i mean

\- he's good at pokemon

\- have u seen those stern expressions i mean

\- also why doesn't he speak?????? it is Suspicious. 

the facial (and vocal) similarities are obviously why red chose to be stoic and silent (apart from the Aesthetic ofc)

#champion red #the grandson conspiracy #red oak #grandson conspiracy

53,987 notes

_blueoakokay reblogged your post_

#im cackling #oh my god #the grandson conspiracy #pfft

* * *

Blue's still cackling as he texts his sister with the news of the Tumblr tag. Five minutes later, he gets a  _lmao would it be too much to follow the entire tag_ in reply. 

_you could_ , he types back,  _but you'd never see anything but those posts ever_. 

_point made_ , is her response, and that's the end of that. 

* * *

Apparently Blue should just be banned from thinking "that's the end of that" for the rest of his life. That is not the end of that. 

Gramps sits them both down  _again_. "I take it you've heard of the conspiracy." He says briskly. "I expect you both to behave rationally and logically about all of this, do you understand?" 

"Oh yeah." Blue mutters sarcastically. "Logical. I can do that." 

Daisy muffles a snort into her palm.

"I'm serious, both of you." Gramps snaps severely, like he's some kind of army general or something. Now that Blue's looking, he  _can_ spot the resemblance between Gramps and Red. "No antagonizing the press." 

"Sir yes sir, sir." Blue says. Daisy doesn't bother to hide her snort this time.

* * *

Bayze is getting very tired of hearing about Samuel's problems with his grandchildren. He understands, to some degree—he wants Brendan to respect him, just like Samuel wants his grandchildren to respect him, but the thing is, Samuel is just so shut off emotionally that it seems Daisy and Blue have stopped knocking at his door. 

He misses Brendan fiercely, all of a sudden. 

"—They ought to—Bayze, are you listening?" 

"Of course, Samuel." Bayze says mildly, internally going insane. He checks his phone idly. 

_One (1) New Text from "Brendan <3" _

_how's things w/ prof oak?_ It says. 

_He keeps complaining about how his grandchildren should respect him_ , he types back,  _I'm just here trying to study soil, for Arceus' sake, leave me out of this_.  


	9. Chapter 9

"Bayze just left." Gramps announces, walking into the kitchen. 

"Hnngreat." Blue says, into the table. "I, too, would like to leave this household." 

"Don't you have that Kalosian professor's number? You mentioned that he seemed interested in having you over there in—what's it called? Lumiose?" Daisy takes a long sip of coffee. 

"Yeah, well, I have to finish school first." Blue says, mouth twisting. 

"Finish early!" Daisy suggests, brightly. "You're obviously—Blue, where are you going?"   
  
"Daisy you fucking genius." He rushes past her, snagging a cup of coffee on the way past. "Gotta go do that now bye!"

Daisy stares after him. "Huh." She says, slowly, to herself. "If I'd known all it takes to get him to study is the promise of leaving faster, I'd have used that knowledge." 

"Does nobody care that I heard all that?" 

"Nope!" Daisy grins brightly, turning to face her Grandpa. "The only reason I'm so civil to you is because I get to leave for college in a year!" 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**Jan 18, 9:05 am**

i beat koga

validate my existence 

you're so valid my dude

the valid-est

what's got you in such a good mood?

if i study real hard i can leave within the year! 

no more gramps!

you don't like staying with your grandfather?

no! :) 

* * *

Blue has been studying for three hours straight (hah, straight) and his brain feels like mush.

His grades have always been good—high A's, always, even when he didn't care—but now? Now they're perfect. He's about three days ahead of where he should be already, with perfect notes and everything. 

God. If it weren't for the fact that he could actually leave  _early_ , Blue would never even consider doing this. 

...It says a lot about his feelings for Gramps, that he's willing to do this much just to get away, huh. 

Well! Time to not think about that and read about something cool instead! 

(Which will end up being about Ledian's sleeping habits and how they differ from Ledyba, but that's cool, so.)  

Just as he's about to click "New Tab", he gets a notification from Daisy. 

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Jan 21, 12:42 pm**

so anyway bill and i are moving in together

he got me a bracelet for it and everything

oh my god

wait how long have you been dating????

isnt it a bit fast

we've been dating for six months, give or take a week or two,

but blue

1\. bill is practically my soulmate 

2\. i get to  _move out. early_

aww that's cute

& im jealous that u get to move out 

but like? happy?

is that a thing?

bc normally im not happy for the people im jealous of

aw blue, that's sweet

dw, its a totally normal experience

* * *

ANONYMOUS ASKED: describe your relationship w ur grandfather in a vine

BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED:

"how do you know what's good for me?" 

"THAT'S MY OPINION!" 

_blink_

#asked and answered 

58 notes

* * *

"Bayze," Oak says, into the phone, "my grandchildren—" 

"—Have the right to make their own decisions about whether they want to trust and or respect you? Don't need your constant course correcting? Are capable of taking care of themselves? Great! I totally agree." There's shuffling, and then a muffled male voice. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and my son is here. And unlike you, I do genuinely want to make time for my son without trying to 'win' his respect."

_Click_. 

* * *

Idly, Blue flicks through Netflix, finally landing on a show about those old Aura Guardians that he'd read about in storybooks. The show is apparently called, "Aura Adept". 

He lets the trailer play. It shows a pair of young teens saying dramatic things like, "Aura Guardians were statistical improbabilities. Even more so now than ever," and, "but I can't be an Aura Guardian!" 

If you've got glow power things then of course you're an Aura Guardian. That's how this works.  

He presses play and prepares himself for a "coming-of-age" story with dramatic, cheesy things like close-ups of the hot guy's face and a wise old mentor who sets up comedic situations just because he's so oblivious to the fact that that what he's saying is wildly unnecessary, plus a hot love interest which stirs up Angst somehow. 

So then, of course, Blue ends up binging the entire thing. He came into this expecting something so bad it's good, but got something so great it makes him cry. The main character, Thomas, is interesting and believable and earnest and sweet in a way that makes him endearing instead of annoying, and he grows and matures as his powers do. 

His partner Pokémon, Lucario, is stiff and unwilling to work with him at first, but they have an entire—believable!—arc about working and growing together as a team. 

His love interest isn't even set up as his love interest at first—he is the Princess' lover, Prince Alaine of Hengove. He and Thomas grow together and bond and communicate—actually communicate!—about their difference in status and title and how they're willing to work to be together.

It's a well written story with a believable and likable cast of characters, and wonderful character development while still having something there other than the romantic relationships—plus, Lucario is snarky as all get-out.

Consider Blue sold. 

* * *

hi aura adepts is a Great Show

#blue blathers #i might be crying a little #thomas deserves the world #aura adepts

42,536 notes 

* * *

"I heard you crying." Daisy says, a half-full box of stuff held on her hip. "What's up?" 

"I just binged a top tier show." Blue replies, unaware of Gramps' keen gaze on his back. "Aura Adepts, you might've heard of it." 

"I haven't." Daisy shifts her box. "I'll tell Bill about it, we can binge it together and give you our thoughts?" 

"Sounds good." Blue agrees. After a moment, he says, "Do you need any help?"

"Can you fold the clothes on my bed?" Daisy asks, obviously relieved. 

"You got it, sis. Oh, hey, can I borrow your earrings?" 

Daisy pauses. "Which ones?" 

"Those black ones?" Blue says. They're simple black circles, but they go well with a lot of things and Blue likes them a lot. 

"Oh, those? They're yours now, if you want them."

"I can  _have them_?" Blue's three seconds from laughing, giddy. "Thank you!" He calls, already speeding towards Daisy's bedroom. 

Unbeknownst to both Oak siblings, their grandfather observes his grandchildren, frowning in confusion.  "You two confuse me," He murmurs, "and Bayze isn't helping." 


	10. Chapter 10

Honestly, Blue's kind of terrified of his power. He's already a full month ahead of schedule, with perfect grades and perfect notes. He's gotten an email from an admin of the website, asking about his sudden jump ahead. 

That was explained away with something like, "I have a scholarship opportunity that I'm interested in pursuing but I need to finish school first so I'm trying to finish as quickly as possible." 

It's probably a good thing that people  _can_ finish early, otherwise he would just look stupid. 

* * *

**sic-em-more**

**Jan 22, 9:49 am**

hey, professor sycamore?

about that scholarship

do i need to find a place to live while i'm in kalos, or...?

Hello!

You should be boarding in the lab, actually. 

We have bedrooms for that very purpose.

And a kitchen, if you're feeling up to cooking.

oh, okay

thank you

wait isnt it like one am over there

what are you doing awake

 

Late night research!

* * *

 "Blue!" Daisy shrieks when Blue picks up the phone. "Blue, Blue, oh my god—Aura Adepts is just—it's so—I want six seasons and a movie." She says finally. Blue can imagine her bouncing on the balls of her feet, excitedly and animatedly moving her body around. 

"Six quality seasons and a great movie!" Bill yells, from further in the house. "Not a cash-grabber!" 

"Yes!" Daisy agrees. "Also, Bill pointed this out, but...was Helena eyeing up Princess Isolde during the last few episodes?" 

"Helena the sword maiden?" Blue says. He thinks back, and after a few moments, remembers a couple of moments where Isolde let her gaze linger for a few seconds too long, and where Helena said something too flirty to be called banter or simple wit. "No, yeah, now that I think on it, she and Isolde definitely had a thing." 

"Hah!" Bill crows victoriously. "I knew they had chemistry!" 

"I thought you were going to bring up your gaydar." Daisy mumbles to herself. 

"Darling, just because I'm bi, doesn't mean I'm finely attuned to my gaydar." Bill says. "The only reason I knew Thomas was gay was because of how he acted when talking to the guard in front of Isolde's castle."

"Isn't that just his natural self?" Daisy asks, confused. 

"He went bright red." Blue observes dryly. "There was absolutely nothing platonic or natural about that." He scrolls idly through his Tumblr dashboard, and snorts a little when he comes across a picture "proving" Red's biological relation to Gramps. He presses the palm of his hand against his face. "Do you think they'll make another season?" 

"I hope so!" Daisy chirps brightly. She pauses. "Come over for dinner tonight. I know how terrible Grandpa is." 

"Stay the night," BIll says. 

"Okay." Blue says, relieved. "Okay."

* * *

"Daisy wasn't serious about the moving out thing, was she?" Gramps asks, aggravated. Blue replies to a text from Akane, and then he pets his half-asleep Eevee, who's curled up in his lap, both of them trying very desperately to ignore his grandfather. Blue very nearly knots his fingers in her fur (he's gentle, of course, he always is). 

"She—she'll come back." Gramps continues, almost desperately. 

"I don't think so." He grits out, and Eevee whines pitifully, obviously sensing his change in mood and attributing it to her. He strokes her and murmurs to her soothingly. "It's okay, darling. I love you." 

Eevee relaxes at the tone of his voice, low and comforting. 

Gramps blinks. "What." He says, genuinely baffled. 

Blue rolls his eyes skywards. "Newsflash, you suck at parenting. Or, grand-parenting, I guess." He makes sure to keep his voice calm and even, scratching Eevee behind the ears. "Of course she's not coming back. Or, I guess she might come around for dinner every once in a while—maybe—but she's not moving back in here, and I don't blame her." 

* * *

goin' to dinner w/ daisy and bill 

#i can get Out Of The House #im v excited for that #blue blathers

42 notes

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Jan 22, 12:53 pm**

controversial opinion: diantha's Latest Red Carpet Look™ was too much

excusez-moi, you imbecile, it was Iconic and not too much

ah yes

a literal altaria dress

was not too much

does she even have an altaria??????

,,,,,,,,,,

she doesn't 

admit that i'm right

never

* * *

Blue's phone rings three times, a quick, short staccato. He blinks at the contact name. "Kelly?" He asks, picking the phone up. He can hear her breathing shakily on the other end of the line. 

"Blue—" She says, panicked, "—what if I can't make it to the Elite Four? What if all the things I've tried to do are for nothing? Am I good enough for this?" 

Blue twists a loose thread against his finger three times, almost cutting off circulation before he untwists it. "Kells." He snaps firmly, and she shuts up. Blue gentles his tone when he continues. "Kells, listen to me. You are a talented trainer. Don't focus on the hypotheticals, focus on your next gym battle. Where is it going to be?"

She breathes in, shaky still. "Sabrina." She whispers. 

"Okay. Breathe with me, now." He exaggerates his breathing, taking deep breaths in and loud breaths out. Then, when she's breathing normally, he continues. "Focus on her. Focus on your strategy. Don't dwell on the what-ifs." 

"But—but I—" She sighs. "I'm too cocky. I can't—I'm reckless. I'm not like—like Red, where every move I make is intuitive and works perfectly, and I'm not like  _you_ , I can't adapt like you can! I—you two are...I don't know, my heroes, I guess."

"Well then don't be like either of us." Blue says, surprised that she mentioned him as her hero. "'s not rocket science. You don't have to copy him, or  _me_ , for that matter. Just do what  _you_ would do. Not what other champions would do. Follow your gut." 

Kelly sighs again, relief evident. "Okay. Okay, thanks."

* * *

"Welcome!" Bill says, ushering Blue inside. He takes his shoes off, then his socks, leaving the socks inside the shoes and the shoes beside the door. "This is our humble abode." 

Daisy grins at the reminder. 

"Yo," He drawls, accepting a brief hug from Daisy and a man-hug from Bill, "how's it goin'?" 

"Wonderful!" Daisy leans a hip against the wall. "Come sit down." 

BIue trails after Bill,  who leads him to the dining table, already covered with food. 

"Cozy place," Blue says, glancing around. It's fairly rustic, actually—the floors are made of wood, the walls are painted brick, and the countertops are all stone. "I like it."

"Thanks," Daisy chirps, walking in, "so do I." 

There's a lull in the conversation where everybody grabs the food they want. 

"Have you watched Queer Eye?" Bill asks. 

Blue very nearly drops his spoon. "Have I— _I love Queer Eye_." He manages, emphatically. Daisy makes a confused face in his peripheral vision, and he turns to her. "You haven't watched it?" He questions, horrified. Bill stares at her. 

"No," She stabs a tomato with her fork. 

"Blue, want to marathon it after dinner?" The question is light, almost offhanded, like Bill knows his answer before he says it. To be fair, he probably does. 

"Yeah, duh." Blue swirls his pasta around his fork. God, this is going to be  _great_. 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> should i make blue an askblog on Real Life Tumblr™
> 
> if i get five "yes"es, then i will

"I thought you left for good." Gramps says bluntly when Blue opens the door to his house. The man's got a coffee stain on his ugly yellow sweater. He has no lab coat. Blue wonders idly if he should be concerned.  

"What, and live with those two lovebirds? No thanks." Blue shudders at the idea. Daisy and Bill are so domestic it's almost disgusting. If he believed in soulmates or any of that true love shtick, he'd think Bill and Daisy were The Ones™ for each other. 

Which is...Blue's not entirely sure what to think. He's happy for Daisy, of course, and Bill is actually  _super cool_ , but on the other hand...ew. That's still his sister (and brother-in-law? Hm. He doesn't hate the idea, which is more than he can say for Daisy's exes). 

He brushes past his grandfather blithely, leaving the man staring at his back. Who did Gramps hook up with to have his dad, anyway? 

Blue freezes. Google could tell him. But does he want to know?

* * *

 was professor oak married?

Professor Samuel Oak was married to Elite Four Member Agatha from 1974-1979. She is the mother of his one and only child, Ryan Oak. She is the grandmother of Blue and Daisy Oak. 

* * *

Well! Blue would like to literally never think about that ever again. 

But wait. Does that mean that Blue literally battled his Grandmother—practically  _idolized_ her from age seven to age eight, and Gramps never told him that she is  _literally related to him?!_ He won against his own Grandmother? 

He has many questions. 

Blue passive aggressively takes a screenshot and sends it to Gramps with a caption of "????????" and to Daisy with the caption "did you know about this or". He's like ninety nine percent sure she had no idea, but still. 

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Jan 23, 9:43 am**

WHAT. 

I KNOW

agatha is too good for him 2k-forever

god, that's an entire mood

but then again, isn't everyone too good for him 

kdfjkjhklj i just laughed so hard bill came over to check on me

LMAO

but like? it's true tho

* * *

**gramps**

**Jan 23, 10:06 am**

Yes, Agatha and I were married. 

WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS

YOU SAID THAT

oh, that's right, you're a liar and untrustworthy

 _You have changed "gramps" to "my dad's life donor"_. 

* * *

my life? a lie

my family life? shaken

my hair? well that always looks good so

hotel? trivago 

#blue blathers #but anyway the revelations i have had #are making my head spin #im dizzy lol 

74 notes

* * *

Blue calls Kelly. He needs an impartial opinion, and Kelly's both fiercely loyal and fiercely pragmatic. She's the closest he's going to get. 

"Yo Blue," She says when she picks up. "What's goin' on?" 

"Give me advice." He steeples his fingers together, holding his phone with his head and shoulder. 

"What?" Kelly says, shocked. "I mean, okay, but it'll be of very questionable quality."

Blue makes a dismissive noise. Questionable is better than none at all. "So, I just found out who my grandmother is. Should I or should I not contact her?" 

Kelly goes quiet. After a moment, she says, "Do you want to contact her?"

"Kind of? It's complicated, because she didn't exactly contact me or tell me that she was my grandmother, but—uh. That may be because of my—" He pauses, swallowing back the  _Gramps_ on his tongue, and then continues, "because of my dad's life-donor."

"Your dad's—oh! You mean Professor Oak?"

He can practically hear her frowning in confusion on the other end of the line. "That's the guy." He agrees.

"Well, why didn't she contact you anyway?" Kelly presses. 

"Well. She's—uh. Very famous, and I'd been told that she was bitter and broken all my life, so I probably wouldn't understand why she was calling, tell her she had the wrong number, and then hang up." Blue pauses, considering. Can he tell her? After deliberating for a moment, he says, "Hey, can you keep a secret?"

"You're telling me who she is, aren't you." Kelly sumises. "I won't tell anyone."

"It's uh. Agatha." Blue says, unsurprised that she figured out what he wanted to do. Kid's sharp. "You know, the Elite Four member? Yeah, her."

Kelly gasps. After a moment, she says, "Wow," very faintly. And then she pauses. "Wait, doesn't that mean you battled her?" 

"I  _know_ , that was my reaction, too!" Blue falls backwards on his bed. The phone rolls away, and he picks it up to press it against his ear. "Should I contact her, or what?"

"Do you have her phone number?" Kelly asks skeptically. "Does she even  _have_ a phone?"

"Lance made her get one." Blue explains. "I can bully Gra—uh, dad's life-donor into telling me her phone number." He needs to stop calling him Gramps. He's lost that honor.

Kelly clicks her tongue in thought. "Do it. If she turns out to suck, just cut contact again. If she doesn't suck, congrats, you've reconnected with her and you can just. I dunno, get to know each other." 

"Okay, okay." Blue sighs deeply. "I'm gonna have to talk to Daisy about this." 

It's not even that he doesn't want to tell Daisy, or that he dislikes talking to her. It's just, he doesn't know how she'll react, and now that he's talked it through with Kells, he really wants to talk to Agatha. 

But it'll be with Daisy, or it won't happen at all. He wants them to agree on a course of action. Communication or whatever, 'cause apparently he cares about that stuff now. 

There's a crash, somewhere in the distance, and Kelly says. "Sorry, gotta go make sure my Pokémon are behaving themselves, have a nice chat with your sister."

Blue waves her off. "Talk to you later."

 _Click_. 

* * *

"So." Blue says, fiddling with a loose thread on his shirt. "I kinda wanna get in contact with Agatha, sorta let her tell her side of the story. Maybe we'll bond. But—uh. Will you? Do it with me, maybe?"

Daisy's silent on the other end of the line as she lets him speak. "You want to...get in contact?" She repeats. "With our grandmother?"

"Yeah." Blue fidgets. "So. Will you?"

"I mean sure, but why?" Daisy walks around as she speaks. "I mean, why together?"

He bites down a snarky reply. "It's 'cause I wanna stay on good terms with you." He says honestly. "So, open communication." He fidgets, uncomfortable with the sheer sentiment spilling out of him. 

"Oh, Blue." Daisy says, fondly. "Of course I'll go with you." 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the askblog has been made. @blueoakokay 
> 
> it's only a sideblog tho

"What's Agatha's phone number?" Daisy asks. She's dropped by just to ask that. Blue admires her pettiness. "See, we wanted to get in contact, since we couldn't before—" 

"Bastard." Blue mumbles, focusing on that stupid lab coat instead of his face. 

"—because you never told us about her." Daisy continues, like she hasn't been interrupted. "So, you know, we'd both really like to talk to her." It's not a request. Daisy bares her teeth in what's supposed to be a smile, but contains far too many predatory aspects to really qualify.

It reminds him of the way Jolteon tense all over when they're two seconds from attacking. Daisy's eyes are alight with a strange, half-mocking friendliness, but everything else screams mistrust.

When Blue steps forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her, she turns her attention to him for a few moments, going from tense to relaxed in point-two seconds, before refocusing on Dad's life donor and going back to aggression. 

The donor stiffens slightly but doesn't reply. Blue allows himself to step forward, just twice, until he's in touching range. 

"Tell us." Blue says. It's not a request. 

Oak stiffens further. In a clipped tone, he says, "I would advise against that. Agatha will not speak with you, nor tolerate you."

"Tell us." Daisy repeats, tone unchanged. "Otherwise, I'm sure Blue could just fly over to the Indigo Plateau and talk to her himself. This way is just easier." 

There's a quiet sigh.

* * *

"Lance, I swear, if you try to—" Agatha's voice says, tiredly. 

"Neither of us are Lance." Blue deadpans. 

"...Blue?" Agatha questions, voice oddly soft. After a moment, the gruffness is back. "Why are you speaking to me?" 

"Well, why not?" Daisy asks, eyes soft, even if she can't see Agatha. Agatha's breathing goes funny for a moment. 

"I thought Samuel turned you against me." She says. The laugh that follows is short and bitter. "God knows he tried to turn everyone else against me—and succeeded, too." 

"He tried. But then again, he's a shitty grandparent, so I didn't trust him." Blue admits. "It was after our battle—I never even knew you were my Grandma 'til recently."

"Recently." Agatha echoes. "How recent is recently?" 

"Yesterday-recently." Daisy pipes up. Blue very carefully doesn't wince at the reminder that he hadn't bothered to question his Grandmother's identity until  _literally yesterday_. 

What the hell.

Agatha snorts. She doesn't seem surprised. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you at all." She says, bluntly, like it's no big fucking deal that her family wasn't even aware she was family. 

The constant urge to punch Dad's life donor, usually just sitting quietly in the back of his mind, starts screeching its head off.  

"That's—that...I can't say I—that  _we_ would have done anything if—" Daisy falters. He grips her hand in silent support. 

"If Samuel wasn't terrible?" Agatha supplies dryly. "His ego's always been his biggest problem. 'S why we broke up. He couldn't handle my ambition, drive, and flat-out talent. He sniped at me. I sniped back. Eventually, we fought about everything and just decided to divorce on 'friendly' terms." 

Blue can  _feel_ the vitriol on the last two words. "If it were friendly," He says, slowly, "he wouldn't've bothered hiding you from us. Or telling everyone you're old and unfriendly."

"I may be old," She agrees, "but I'm not consistently unfriendly by any means."

He admires her bluntness. Is this where he got it from?   
  
"This is the most pleasant interaction I've ever had with either of my grandparents in at least ten years." Daisy says. Blue can see her shifting, indecisively, before thinking better of whatever else she was going to say and keeping her mouth shut. 

Agatha scoffs. "Not a hard margin to hit if this is pleasant," She observes. Daisy opens her mouth to protest, but she continues on. "I'm glad you sought me out." 

"Yeah." Blue says, a little choked up. "Us, too. Can we call you again?"

"No, I spent this entire time speaking to you only to reveal we could only do it once." Agatha deadpans. Blue snorts at her sarcasm. She's much more like him than her ex is. 

Daisy glances at him, unsure how to take that. 

"Great, talk to you whenever. Also, you should call us, too."

Agatha goes quiet for a moment. Then, she scoffs again. "Fine. I'll call both of you at least twice a week." 

Blue doesn't bother to hide his smile. He waits for the click, then says, very brightly, "I think that went well."

"She scares me a little, but she's also really cool."  Daisy says. "I see where you get it from."

Blue decides to take that as a compliment. 

* * *

okay so! reconnecting with the grandmother has been fun.

#blue blathers #she's so much like me its insane #i think i love her already #her sass is just #so good #and her sarcasm is just great

50 notes

* * *

_You have changed this number's contact name to "aghosta christie"_.

**Jan 24, 10:28 am**

i thought you should know what your contact name is

[i think im funny.jpg]

I'm not sure whether to cringe or be impressed. Two puns. In one name.

this is what you've signed up for 

[I ran with it.jpg]

wait how did u know what my favorite berry is

also it's blue. was that intentional??????

I didn't. Now I do.

Of course it was.

* * *

 

Blue's been trying not to get his hopes up too high—Arceus knows he's only been disappointed whenever he gets his hopes up. But. Agatha's shown more care for him than her ex has in years, even going along with his stupid puns. 

His hopes are soaring, and it hasn't even been twenty-four hours. It's barely been one. 

He doesn't know whether that's a good sign or if it's just the universe building him up so it can knock him back down. He hopes beyond belief that this is good. It's been so long since he's hoped, but—

It's nice. Better than nice, really, but this has been a long day and Blue is very overwhelmed. He can't think straight (not that he ever could), and he's smiling so much it hurts.


	13. Chapter 13

**aghosta christie**

**Jan 25, 10:32 am**

please distract me oak is being annoying. 

...Explain?

he's staring at me and im uncomfortable 

Ah, okay. 

My Gengar is harassing my Weezing. How lovely. 

don't you have two gengars

One of them decided that he wanted to go and see the world. He'll come back eventually. 

how do you know that? 

When I offered to set him free, he refused. Ergo, this is just a temporary thing. 

seems legit. 

is

did oak just. 

[look-what-he-did.jpg]

Dear Arceus, what is he  _doing_?! Is he trying to—to take off Mimikyu's Pikachu disguise?

yeah

He's dead.

nah, don't worry. i stopped him

Good, at least you have  _sense_.

questionably.

im studying pokemon behavior and literally the only negative things any of my books say about mimikyu are, paraphrased, "no bringing pikachu around it. also no taking the disguise off because you will die". 

and he was like "haha let me do this for research!" 

like no. no. don't be dumb. 

You're studying Pokémon behavior? I thought you were a battler. 

i'm doing both. i'm getting a degree in pokemon behavior, but not abandoning battling. 

Ah. A plan B, then?

Smart of you. 

* * *

Blue snorts as he answers the most recent ask in his askbox. Johto Champion? Him? Interesting, to be sure, and definitely something to think about, but he's not making any promises. 

He reclines back, surveying the Ranch lazily. He's calm, lazy, and contented—

Which is, of course, the instant his Pokémon come bounding up to him. Blastoise rises up out of the water, lumbering his way over, Arcanine following swiftly. The two settle themselves around him just as Alakazam teleports in, Eevee on his head. It's strangely adorable.

Then, Pidgeot lands with a caw, landing behind him and starting to groom him. Exeggutor finally makes his way over, resting between Blastoise and Arcanine. 

"Hey, guys." He says quietly, still lazy from the sunlight. Pidgeot continues grooming him, beak gentle as it tugs at his hair. He glances back down at his phone, only to see a question about relationship advice. 

Why is there a question about relationship advice in his askbox. He does not know how to Do Relationships Good. 

Daisy is the one who makes their relationship a Good Thing instead of a hot mess. Agatha (Grandma?) is similar enough to him that he's comfortable with how to approach her. 

He's so frazzled that he admits that he finds Red cute. 

Fuck. 

Well. He did. Red was cute, and then he was gone.

Does he still find Red cute?

Ugh. He hates relationships. And that Anon for making him think about _his_ relationships. 

* * *

_You have changed "aghosta christie" to "grandma of ghosts"._

* * *

"Daisy," He singsongs, curled up against Arcanine's body heat and Blastoise's bulky, protective shell, "distract me, I'm thinking about things too much!" 

"Agatha told me that at one point she witnessed fifty of the nation's most notable names, raging drunk, all performing the Macarena in a conga line." Daisy says promptly. Chopping noises start up. She hums quietly as she works, and then she continues, "She said...uh. Morty—one of the Johto Gym Leaders—was trying to sing along. At the top of his lungs. At three in the morning." 

Daisy's voice has taken on a blunt edge, like Agatha's speech. Blue snickers at the mental image. Lightly, he says, "What, and no one else joined in?"

"No, they were laughing too hard." Daisy reveals. She pauses. "Actually, Agatha said something like 'those fools were laughing hard enough to wake a sleeping Snorlax' when she told me about it."

Blue laughs quietly, lazily, still contented from the sun's beams and the body heat around him. "All of them absolutely smashed." He summarizes. 

"Hammered." Daisy agrees. They fall into a comfortable silence, only broken by the rhythmic chopping. 

"So," He drawls, after a few minutes. "How are you and Bill?" 

The chopping stops, finally. "Wonderful." Daisy says enthusiastically. 

"Will I see a ring on your finger within the next two years." Blue inquires flatly. "Because you two move  _way_ fast."

They do. Blue figures maybe the moving-in thing was just Bill getting Daisy away from Dad's life donor, but also Daisy's admitted that she's probably in love already, so. 

"Maybe a promise ring." Daisy replies wistfully. "Bill wants to wait at least three-and-a-half to four years before actual marriage."

Huh. Blue's respect for him goes up quite a lot of notches. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**Jan 31st, 2:15 pm**

five down, three to go. 

oh congrats

also jelly says hi

...jelly?

[jelly.jpg]

holy fuckign shit thats the cutest thing ive ever seen

he just loves his jelly my man

hnnnnnggg 

he's too cute kells pls

shh, shh, i know. i get it. 

* * *

Blue bites his pillow to keep from screaming. On his phone is a picture of Kelly's Eevee, mouth surrounded by jelly, a contented, smug expression on his face. 

His own Eevee jumps up, glances at the screen, and huffs. She flicks her tail, disinterested, and curls up on the foot of the bed, eyes fixed disconcertingly on him. 

He lets the pillow fall out of his mouth, and says, "You can't be jealous." 

Eevee huffs again, tail flickering. _Of course I'm not_ , her eyes seem to say.  _Why would I be jealous of him_?

Oh. She really is jealous. Blue tries not to laugh, but it's a hopeless thing, if Eevee's discontent expression is anything to go by. She goes to jump off the bed, eyes still just. Fixed on him. 

"Hey, you don't have to be jealous." He soothes, and at her baleful expression, adds, "Okay, you're not jealous. Still. I could never love him more than I love you."

Eevee pauses. Her ear flickers. She's listening—for now. 

He feels faintly ridiculous as he tries to reason with her. Oh, well. The things he'll do for his Pokémon are plentiful—he can suffer a bit of embarrassment. "I wouldn't trade you for anything." He keeps his voice pitched low, his body language open, and his eyes pleading. 

"Vui." Eevee says, unconvinced. 

"It's true," Blue replies. "I promise." 

Eevee studies him for a long, long moment. Then, she jumps into his arms, digging her claws into his arms for a few seconds, not quite enough to draw blood, but leaving the skin red.

She then promptly demands pets. Because of course. 

Blue smiles fondly down at her. She flicks her ear again, before settling in and purring quietly. 

"Yeah," he says, voice stupidly choked by emotion, "yeah, I love you too."

 


	14. Chapter 14

⇆ You Retweeted

Daisy Oak ✓   
@dazedoak 

thinking about oppy the mars rover makes me just? so sad. i didn't even know about her until she was gone, and it makes me wonder how many other amazing things i've missed just because i'm not part of one specific field of study. 

Feb 15 - 3:52 am 

* * *

Blue thinks about asking why Daisy was awake at nearly four in the morning the day after Valentine's day, and then realization hits him like a truck. 

Yikes. No talking about that, not to his  _sister_. 

He scrolls idly through twitter and snorts at the tacky headlines, before pausing at an actual tweet that a grown fucking man wrote

* * *

Blue Oak ✓ @bluesoak - Feb 15

you do realize that sex is a way that pokemon bond and not just for baby making purposes right

 

> Carl Reyes @carlreyes35 
> 
> apparently male pyroar are homos now. that's disgusting
> 
> Jan 5 - 5:04 pm

* * *

so anyway, standardized tests can go die in a fire. i miss being active on tumblr beyond anons (hi journey anon, vulpix anon, and relationship anon, how are yall) 

#blue blathers #it feels so good to use that tag again ugh #studying is kicking my ass #but its okay soon i'll be in kalos and everything will be grand

43 notes

* * *

current mood: stuDYING 

#blue blathers #@arceus what did humanity do to deserve standardized tests

24 notes

* * *

 Blue blinks slowly at the reporter in his face. "Why," He says, staring at her pointed finger, "are you poking me in the chest?"

Really, she's stopped her hand about a millimeter before that, but it's such a tiny distance, she's a reporter, and Blue has very little patience for reporters. 

"Can we get a comment on the grandson conspiracy?" She asks brightly, popping her bright pink bubblegum in his face. 

Oh no. Absolutely not. 

Blue lets his eyes go dead. He stares at her for an unnerving amount of time. She clears her throat awkwardly, blue eyes wide behind her horn-rimmed glasses. 

A seldom-used but beloved way to mess with the press: go dead-eyed and just stare at them. Also known as: Red's default expression whenever he had to meet someone's eyes. 

Okay, no thinking about Red while the press is standing two feet away. 

His eyes go deader. "No comment." He drones finally, stepping away. He turns his back to her, steps forward into the marketplace, and sighs exasperatedly when she calls for his attention  _again_. 

"Just one comment." She says, wheedling, bright red lips drawn into a pout and body trained in a way that makes it clear where she wants him to look. 

Is she trying to seduce him into talking? He raises his eyebrows, unimpressed, and repeats, "No comment." 

She blinks, taken aback. "But—" She says, whining now. 

He turns around and leaves her behind. 

* * *

i ran into a particularly,,,,,,annoying reporter. i am very annoyed and would like a nap but i can hear explosions and therefore cannot sleep please help me

#blue blathers 

5 notes

* * *

Blue blinks at the contact on his phone for a second. Agatha's calling him? What's up with that?

"Yo," He says when he picks up, scanning his online coursework and noting his A-only grades with a vicious sort of spiteful pride. 

"Hello." Agatha returns, and then calls, "No, don't—oh, for the love of—Weezing! Smokescreen!" 

Blue pauses, eyebrows raising despite himself, and says, "Are you battling someone right now?" 

"Overconfident kid who challenged me off the side of the road." She murmurs, interspersed with the kid's haughty command. "He couldn't tell who I was."

Blue laughs. "How badly is he losing?"

"My Weezing hasn't taken a hit this entire fight." She replies, and then snaps, "Shadow Ball!" 

Blue clicks on one of his courses. "Yikes for him." He notes, and then pauses at the noise of pain he hears on the other end. "Are you battling an Alakazam with your Weezing?"

Agatha laughs shortly, a throaty chuckle. "Yes."

Ding, ding! Respect points earned. "Is this—" He pauses at the crash. "Was that his last Pokémon?"

"No. He has—" Agatha pauses. "You're kidding." She says flatly, more to herself then to him. "His last Pokémon is a Ponyta." She adds, after a moment. 

Blue's brain goes Error 404: File Not Found. 

"What." He manages, very quietly, after about twenty seconds. 

"He has a—Weezing, Toxic—Ponyta as his last Pokémon." She sounds about as impressed as Blue feels, which is not at all really. 

Before he can stop himself, Blue cracks the fuck up. 

Agatha finishes the battle with one last command—a Thunderbolt—and delivers a deadpan, "Not so old now, am I." To the bewildered loser. 

Blue cracks up louder. 

* * *

Oak frowns at him when he emerges, still laughing from that battle he got to hear some of. Agatha's particularly pleasant conversation, especially since their humor lines up far more than his and Daisy's, or his and the old man's.

"What?" He asks, still chuckling. 

Oak just keeps frowning. He's got a wrinkly forehead. 

Blue barely bites his tongue to keep from making a quip about it. His good mood has basically completely evaporated by this point. 

_hey could i maybe move in with you_ , he types as a text to Agatha, and then, because he can, sends a picture of Oak and his wrinkly forehead. 

_Convince a lawyer and you can_. She replies. She's probably joking, but Blue makes a mental note of it anyway. 

He pauses. Well, he could privately contact a lawyer, or he could drag the media into this. 

He exits Grandma's contact, and then opens Daisy's, typing, _if i expose oak will you be pissed at me?_

_no._ Is the prompt reply. _@ me so i can see it and feel free to go into as many details as you'd like_. 

Blue grins evilly to himself.

 

 

* * *

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

today i have lost any and all respect for one (1) professor samuel oak. i am formally disowning him as my grandfather whether or not the rumors are true about him being red's grandfather 

but i'm keeping the name because fuck you oak i like your last name.  

also i'm very sleep deprived but i assure you i make this decision with a sound mind it has been building for years and i will elaborate more once i sleep for eight hours goodnight everybody  
  
Feb 16 - 1:35 am

* * *

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

oh, but before i go, i'm going to be honest—this was inevitable. you can't just basically ignore a kid for literal years and expect him to be emotionally/psychologically fine and Loyal To You Forever. 

that's right kiddos, oak was a negligent grandparent. 

Feb 16, 1:37 am

_Show this thread_

* * *

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

i'm sure that some people are crying "blasphemy" while clutching their textbooks and glaring hatefully at their screens—and that's fine, i can't force you to change your mind—but i do have actual proof backed up by actual laws. 

|

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

let me give you one example before i go to sleep. probably my favorite example, told to me by my lovely sister

|

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

there was a time when i was three where oak took me (3) & my sister (7) out and then just Left Us in viridian forest. 

|

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

"Neglect is frequently defined as the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision to the degree that the child’s health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm."

|

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

now, let me remind you that there were BEEDRILL in that forest. he left us to potentially be stung by BEEDRILL. 

and beyond that: to my three (3) year old self, basically everything in that forest had the potential to do me some pretty serious harm. 

pretty fuckin' negligent if u ask me 

|

Blue Oak  ✓   
@bluesoak

@ me in the morning so i continue pls im going to bed goodnight @dazedoak here u go read thru the tiny snippet

 


	15. Chapter 15

TRENDS

#whatthefuckoak

#grandsonconspiracy

#blueoak

#daisyoak

* * *

Trending | Tumblr

imgoingogoat Follow

so anyway samuel oak is a bastard and deserves no respect

#grandson conspiracy #what the fuck oak #blue oak #daisy oak #samuel oak

260,425 notes

* * *

BREAKING NEWS: Samuel Oak is a Negligent Grandparent 

kantodigest · 12 hours ago 

* * *

⇆ You Retweeted

Daisy Oak ✓   
@dazedoak 

for all of you concerned about me in the wake of #whatthefuckoak — i'm fine! i live with my boyfriend, away from pallet. i appreciate the thought, though. 

Feb 16 - 10:35 am 

* * *

"Hey, Blue? What the  _fuck_?" Kelly huffs out a breath through her nose. "I mean, I support you and all that sentimental crap, but my phone's been blowing up because everybody and their grandma is suddenly aware that we're friends."

Blue winces. "Sorry?" He offers sheepishly. He wasn't thinking straight—not that he ever does, but he hadn't considered the possibility of disturbing Kelly. 

She sighs. "Whatever." Her tone brightens when she continues. "Guess who's challenging the Elite Four!" 

"You." Blue says, in a deadpan tone very similar to Grandma, and then his brain catches up. "Oh! Oh, fuck, congrats!" 

"This bitch right here!" She confirms, laughing. 

Blue glances outside. "I'll let Grandma know to expect you soon." He says. "Otherwise, she'd just ditch."

"Wow, she's an entire mood." Kelly pauses, and then there's a quiet rustling. "Jelly wants to say hi, by the way." 

Blue flips his phone into his open hand, where the screen is filled with Kelly's face literally two seconds later. Her hair is a gnarled, tangly mess, and she's got dirt everywhere. 

"Vui!" Jelly cries, bounding into frame and jumping onto Kelly's shoulder. 

"Hi, bud." Blue says, tone immediately softening. 

"Wow, you're actually a dad." Kelly snorts, hair falling in front of her eyes. She huffs, blowing it out of her face. "Also, you're trending on twitter."

Blue pauses. "I am?" 

This is news to him. He knows that #whatthefuckoak is trending, but him as a person? That's news. 

"Hashtag Blue Oak is third, underneath 'what the fuck oak' and 'grandson conspiracy." Kelly hums. "Followed by hashtag Daisy Oak

* * *

since when was i trending on twitter what the fuck

#blue blathers #blue oak #i cant believe my fucking name is a tag

60,532 notes

* * *

**grandma of ghosts**

**Feb 16, 11:25 am**

On the one hand, that's not what I had in mind. 

On the other hand, this is hilarious. 

#whatthefuckoak

...That may be my favorite part. 

same. 

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 16, 11:43 am**  

AureaJun: Samuel, what has gotten  _into_ you?

AureaJun: I decide to check my phone, not expecting anything serious, and then I come across news that you  **took your grandchildren into Viridian Forest and LEFT THEM ALONE. IN A FOREST FULL OF B E E D R I L**. 

BayzeB: I should have known when I spent time with you in Kanto, but I held onto a naïve hope that I was just blowing things out of proportion. 

CedarElm: What's happened?

AureaJun: Check the news @CedarElm

CedarElm: I 

CedarElm: @SamOak What the fuck. 

Rowan: Language, Cedar. 

Rowan: That being said, I do agree. 

SamOak: They were fine, I don't see the big deal.

AureaJun: DONT SEE THE BIG DEAL

AureaJun: THE BIG DEAL IS THAT YOU NEGLECTED YOUR GRANDKIDS

BayzeB: ^ 

Rowan: ^

Kukui: drama in the work gc? at three am?

Kukui: wait WHAT

Kukui: @SamOak [i'm-totally-judging-you-right-now.jpg] 

BurnetK: ^ 

SamOak muted this group-chat!

AugustS: Coward.

AureaJun: Augustine!

Rowan: He's right and he should say it. 

* * *

 

Daisy Oak ✓  
@dazedoak

blue has just informed me i'm trending on twitter. what the absolute fuck

Feb 16 - 12:24 pm

* * *

Trending | Tumblr

ijustwantpasta Follow

Samuel Oak Twitter follow count as of February 16, 12:00 pm, Kanto Standard Time:

20,425 

Blue Oak Twitter follow count as of February 16, 12:00 pm: 

1.4 million

Daisy Oak Twitter follow count as of February 16, 12:00 pm:

500,532 

#it's what they deserve #what the fuck oak #blue oak #daisy oak #samuel oak 

510,432 notes

* * *

Blue Oak ✓   
@bluesoak 

ladies and gentlemen, in two days i will be out of pallet and living with my grandma instead 

Feb 16 - 12:52 pm

* * *

Ten Reasons Oak Sucks, a (non)comprehensive list by yours truly. 

  1. forgot to feed us sometimes (stopped when we started making our own food) 
  2. forgets my name on a regular basis
  3. insists it's a joke, and tells me to man up about it if i seem upset that he does that WHICH I AM THANKS 
  4. consistently lied about my mother and told me she ran off without my dad 
  5. compared me to my dad
  6. consistently told me that i had no good suggestions and would not do well as a researcher
  7. literally forgot daisy existed for a solid week 
  8. when confronted about this, said "well she should stop being so quiet". 
  9. never told me he loved me. ever.
  10. indicated that he wished he never knew me



#blue blathers #what the fuck oak

263,495 notes

* * *

em!   
@emallie 

is it too late to change my internship @UnovaUni #whatthefuckoak

Feb 16 - 1:53 pm

_@UnovaUni replied_  

If you can get another opportunity, by all means, change your internship.  

Feb 16 - 2:02 pm

* * *

Blue blinks slowly into the camera. "Why am I recording this again?" He says, to no one in particular. His Alakazam gives him a  _look_. "Fine, but I'm not going to be good at it."

Alakazam taps him on the upside of his head. Then, he brings up a list titled, "FAQs about the recent situation". 

After a moment, Blue reads the first question aloud. "When did this neglect start happening?" He pauses, looks into the camera, and deadpans, "Probably when my dad died. Apple of Oak's eye, you know the shtick." 

"Why did nobody notice?" Comes up next. Blue smiles, a slow, wry, twisted thing. "People are very good at ignoring the things they don't want to think about." He says. 

"Can I punch Oak in the face?" He pauses. Laughs. "Urge-to-punch anon? Is that you?"

"I always knew there was something scummy about him." Blue reads. His face goes through a variety of emotions. Finally, it does something so friendly it's unnerving. "Congrats! Would you like a cookie?" He asks, too sweetly. 

After a moment, he moves back, eyes going dead. "I wish you'd done something about it." He says. The camera clicks off. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 17, 9:43 am**

AugustS: Ladies and gentlemen I have an idea. 

AureaJun: Oh?

AugustS: What if we kick Samuel out and invite Blue in?

BayzeB: Brilliant idea, I support. 

AureaJun: Hmm. I don't see why not. The boy's clearly fiercely intelligent—I certainly wish I had thought to offer him an internship!

AugustS: I got there first, Aurea! 

Rowan: Yes, yes, we know, Augustine. You spent a week talking about nothing but his potential and rubbing it in our faces. 

Rowan: I have no objections to your proposal. 

Kukui: can you guys stop having important conversations when burnet and i are trying to sleep or

BurnetK: ^ 

CedarElm: Aren't you two on different islands?

BurnetK: we're on our honeymoon 

CedarElm: Oh! Congratulations!

Rowan: @BurnetK @Kukui Congratulations. @CedarElm Focus. 

Rowan: Does anybody have any objections?

Kukui: nope

BurnetK: no

CedarElm: not from me

AugustS: Then it's decided! 

SamOak: Wait, what?

BurnetK _has removed_ SamOak _from this group-chat!_

Kukui: nice, babe!

BurnetK: <3 

* * *

**sic-em-more**

**Feb 17, 9:45 am**

Can I add you to a group-chat?

what

I and the other professors (minus Samuel, as of late) have a group-chat. 

Would you like to join?

sure why not

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 17, 9:47 am**

AugustS _has added_ BlueOak _to this group-chat!_

BurnetK: welcome to "pretending we know how to research: the group-chat" 

BlueOak: lmao thanks 

BlueOak: so what's going on with all of you

CedarElm: [the lab is on fire again.jpg] 

BlueOak: do i want to know

CedarElm: Probably not. 

Rowan: [paperwork.jpg] 

BlueOak: oh Yikes

BurnetK: [honeymooning.jpg] 

BlueOak: congrats! 

AureaJun: So, what about you? @BlueOak

BlueOak: i'm reading about professor rowan's theory on eevees and their evolutions for an essay i have to submit and my course did an awful job of explaining it. 

BlueOak: [rowan's-theory.jpg]

Rowan: ...That's not even remotely what I said. What. 

BlueOak: it's the only explanation they give me :/

Rowan: I can PM you another explanation if you'd like. 

BlueOak: yes please 

* * *

professor rowan > professor oak

#blue blathers #am i saying this because he helped me with an essay? yes #do i mean it? with my entire heart and soul

504 notes

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**  

F **eb 17, 10:20 am**

BayzeB: Am I going to have to bring up Meltan myself, or...?

BlueOak: ?

BayzeB: [link] 

BayzeB: Don't spread this around just yet, it's not public knowledge

BlueOak: what the Fuck

BlueOak: what the Fuck. there is a whole pokémon we had no prior knowledge of????? what the Fuck????????? 

BlueOak: also does anyone have this willow dude's phone number? i figure he oughta at least get an invitation into here

BayzeB: Valid point. Everyone, when you get online, let's take a vote. 

BlueOak: i can't believe i've joined a gc with enough members to constitute a democracy

* * *

Blue stares at his suitcases, sitting neatly on the bed and containing basically everything he owns. There's no backing out of this now, not that he'd even want to. He sweeps his room with his eyes one last time. There's a steady emptiness in his chest, like someone scooped out his emotions with an ice-cream scooper. 

He's not regretting anything he decided to do, but this room holds a special place in his heart. He sighs. 

Getting out of here sounds like a good idea. He makes his way outside, slipping into his sneakers by the door and fervently hoping there's no paparazzi waiting to assault him. 

"Blue," Akane says when he steps outside. Okay, never mind, paparazzi would be a great distraction. 

"Yo, Akane." He shoots her a lazy, two finger salute and moves to brush past her. 

She stares at him like she's trying to read his entire soul. "Samuel starved you." She says. It's not a question. 

"Sometimes, yeah." Blue feels distinctly uncomfortable with this conversation. 

Akane scowls and hisses " _Samuel_ ," to herself with such vitriol he actually steps back. After a moment, she turns to him and her eyes soften. "I'm sorry." She says quietly. "I should have realized."

"It wasn't your responsibility." Blue deflects. He is extremely uncomfortable with this situation. Akane stares at him in the same way Red did, whenever he bothered to meet his eyes—like he was trying to pick him apart and then piece him back together. 

"Maybe not." Akane agrees. "But I care for you. I'm guilty that I was in denial for so long over something so serious." She pulls him into a hug. Blue awkwardly puts his arms around her waist. 

"It's okay." He says roughly. "You're okay." 

* * *

the kells of notre dame ✓  
@kellsbells

off to challenge victory road! 

Feb 17 - 12:00 pm

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Feb 17, 12:21**

finish the vine go

happy birthday raven!

i can't swim

happy first

i'm twenty seven

this bitch empty

YEET 

i am the sand guardian, guardian of the sand!

poseidon quivers before him!

fuck off! 

* * *

the kells of notre dame ✓  
@kellsbells

update: through victory road, onto bruno

Feb 17, 1:04 pm

* * *

ladies, gentlemen, those who are neither and those who are all, in honor of my best friend taking on the elite four, have this cringe-worthy picture of me after beating grandma

#kelly im so proud of you #blue blathers #@ past me shut up you're like 12 #you have no rights being a cocky bastard

531 notes

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 17, 1:12 pm**

AureaJun: Wait, how many people are in this group-chat?

BlueOak: uhhh nine 

AureaJun: Blue, why are you always online?

BlueOak: because i keep my phone with me absolutely everywhere and it's only one pm in kanto anyway

AureaJun: Fair enough. Alright, I say we can add Willow. 

BlueOak: that's...what, a third in agreement?

AureaJun: Seems like it. 

* * *

 

highlights  
@tree-coed 

yall ever wake up and feel like something is Happening somewhere in the world but udk what

Sep 5, 5:39 pm

* * *

Emery Allison squints at the sky, headed to her next lecture. A Delibird drops a letter into her open hands. It contains an acceptance into Professor Aurea Juniper's internship program. 

She stares at the paper for a moment, then carefully folds it back up and pockets it. Internally, she's shrieking in excitement and jumping for joy. Externally, she continues walking. She has a lecture to get to, after all. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise bitches
> 
> also @emallie and emery allison Are The Same Person. she plays a bigger role in this than you mayve expected from someone with one (1) tweet featured in here


	17. Chapter 17

Kelly becomes champion on February nineteenth. 

"Your friend," Grandma says when she gets home, "she battles a little like you do. Not copying, but it's obvious she knows your style and incorporates some of the elements of it." 

Blue glances up from the scientific article Professor Juniper recommended. "Yeah?"

"She mentioned that you mentored her." She continues, setting her bag down with a  _thunk_. "Do you know anything about that?"

Blue blinks. "I gave her some tips." He says, confused by her line of questioning. "I didn't mentor her in any official capacity." 

"Hm." Grandma says. "She looks up to you a great deal, you know." 

Blue wants to scoff but beats the instinct up with a mental stick. He also beats back the defensive preening. Neither of those help. "Yeah." He agrees. "I just don't know how much I deserve it."

"It'll happen whether you deserve it or not." She says, sitting down next to him on the couch, barely blinking when her bag opens and her Pokémon come out. "What matters is what you do with that admiration."

"Huh." Blue manages. 

She ruffles his hair as she stands to leave. "I expect the news will have heard of her championship in the next ten to twenty minutes. Be prepared."

"For the coup of a century," He hums to himself once she disappears into her bedroom. 

* * *

grandma busted out something philosophical when i told her in passing about my insecurities and it? actually kind of helped? 

#blue blathers #why is my brain Like This #it gets all sad and then one (1) philosophical quote later its Not Sad bc its just confused and thoughtful #is this what therapy feels like?? #probably not lmao

553 notes

* * *

"Hey hey hey, new champ!" Blue crows into the phone.

Kelly huffs a laugh on the other end, triumphant and exhausted. "I did it." She says, sounding a little like she wants to pinch herself to make sure this isn't a dream. "I'm the Champion of the Kanto region." 

"We are the champions, my friend." He singsongs. He's in a very sing-y mood today. 

"And we will keep on fighting to the end." She returns easily. 

Blue laughs a little as he logs onto his course. He blinks at his screen. "I have a one-hundred and eight on my evolutionary science course? I think this is a glitch." 

"Or you could just really kick ass at evolutionary sciences." Kelly says. "Didn't you get help from Rowan that one time?"

"Point made." Blue admits. He clicks around for a bit, a little bored. "So, was Lance relieved?"

"What?" Kelly asks, sounding faintly startled. 

"Lance." Blue repeats patiently. "Was he relieved when you won?"

Radio silence for a minute. "Yeah." She realizes. "Hey, what's up with that?"

"Long story short, I didn't wanna be champion so he was champion but he didn't want to be because he felt I'd beaten him fair and square." Blue takes a breath when he's done, realizing only just now that he'd done that whole thing in one breath. 

"Wait wait, hold up, you didn't want to be champion?" She sounds awed and confused. "But—but why?"

"I lost my title. I wasn't gonna accept an automatic win when Red went MIA." Blue shrugs, and then, remembering that Kelly can't see him, adds a noise that feels vaguely like a shrug. 

"Ah, pride." She says knowledgeably. 

Blue makes a dismissive noise. 

* * *

BREAKING NEWS: Kanto Has a New Champion

kantodigest · 1 hour ago

* * *

**bill nye the science guy**

**Feb 19, 10:32 am**

BLUE

BLUE QUEER EYE S3 IS COMING OUT MARCH 15

BLUEEE YOU GOTTA COME OVER SO WE CAN WATCH IT TOGETHER

S3???????? IN MARCH????????

MARCH 15???????

I'LL BE THWRE AT 12 PM OK 

OK 

* * *

my skin is clear my grades are high my best friend is champion and i've got a confimed release date for qe s3 this is the best time in my life

#blue blathers

530 notes

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@bluesoak 

im so proud of @kellsbells thats my best friend everyone

Feb 19 - 10:35 am

* * *

ANONYMOUS ASKED: how well do you get along with your sister's boyfriend?

BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED:

we're friends. we watch queer eye together. i also got both him and daisy into aura adepts 

#asked and answered #i definitely approve #he's a cool guy 

325 notes

* * *

A transcript of Kelly Morgan's first interview as Kanto Champion

START OF INTERVIEW

 **Interviewer** : So, Miss Morgan, how does it feel to be Champion?

 **Kelly** : Well, it's certainly a rush! 

 _She laughs, a little bashfully_. 

 **Kelly** : To be completely honest, I never thought that I would get this far. Hoped, certainly, but I never expected it. 

 **Interviewer** : I'm told you're friends with former Champion Blue Oak. Is he jealous of you?

 **Kelly** : Jealous? Blue? No. He encouraged me every step of the way. I consider him my mentor and inspiration. 

 **Interviewer** : That's certainly a sweet sentiment. I have to ask, though, is there any hero worship on your part?

_She laughs again._

**Kelly** : I don't think there ever won't be. He's an inspiration. He saw a potential in me that no one else quite did no matter how supportive they were.

 **Interviewer** : Speaking of no one else, how has your family taken the news? 

 **Kelly** : Quite well! They were a little shocked—no one really expects it to happen to someone they know, so there was a definite air of 'this may be a dream' when I called to tell them. 

 **Interviewer** : Lucky for you, it isn't! 

 **Kelly** : Lucky for me indeed. 

 **Interviewer** : Thank you for your time today, Miss Morgan. 

 **Kelly** : Thanks for having me!

END OF INTERVIEW

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 19, 11:53 am**

CedarElm: i almost want to know what samuel is doing with his time

CedarElm: i mean his approval ratings are in the negative

CedarElm: what's he doing to occupy his time?

BlueOak: lying in wait like some sort of cliche disney villain

AugustS: "Blue knows best. Blue's so _mature_ now. Such a clever grownup man." 

BlueOak: im showing this to grandma

* * *

"I like this man." Grandma says. "Are you working for him?"

"I will be." Blue says. The visual of Oak stomping around his lab practicing a villainous monologue makes him snort. 

"Good." Grandma nods, satisfied. "We should watch Tangled and imagine Mother Gothel's lines in Samuel's voice."

Blue takes a moment to consider that. He bursts out laughing. "Oh my god." He says. "Yes. I like this idea."  


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do you guys feel about longer chapters? because...uh.

the kells of notre dame ✓  
@kellsbells

im going up to train on mt silver for a few days nobody panic when i go offline

* * *

Blue presses call hoping that Kelly hasn't gone up already. When the line connects, he says, with little fanfare, "Mount Silver, huh?" 

"Why not?" says Kelly breathlessly. "I don't have a rival to steal the throne after five minutes." Her tone is teasing, but Blue still waits for the bitterness to set in. It doesn't. He laughs part relief and part actual amusement. 

"I guess I can't stop you," He says, and shrugs fluidly even though she can't see him. "But if you're not back in ten days I'm dragging myself up that mountain to check in on you." 

She laughs. "If it'll make you feel better." 

* * *

Grandma's mouth is twisted into some kind of disapproving grimace when Blue wanders into the kitchen. "Hey," He hedges carefully. Best not to poke too hard just in case it's him she's upset by. Plus, she could just take it out on him anyway. "Is something the matter?"

Her expression softens a touch. "No. Lance is just being paranoid." She makes a frustrated gesture at nothing. "It's not his decision where Kelly goes to train. He can't be in control of everything all the time."

Blue's expression twists too. No matter how much he respects Lance, he's not happy with his need to control HQ even when he's not champion. "I promised to go check on Kells if she spent ten days up there." He offers. "I don't know how reassuring that is." 

"It's better than nothing." Grandma clicks her tongue, types something out to Lance, then turns her attention back to Blue. "That man tries to mother everyone on staff. I'm  _older_ than him. By decades."

"That's just how he is, I guess. Control freak." Blue pops an Oran berry into his mouth. He chews as she keeps ranting. 

"He does not have the right to govern us." She says, not seething but certainly not pleased. Blue grinds the berry into a fine paste and swallows it down. "He can't control everything. He didn't even—he's not—" Words fail her at that moment. 

Blue shrugs, face vaguely sympathetic

She looks at him. "You really are like me." She murmurs like she's only just realized. "Most people get uncomfortable when I rant." 

"I'm not most people." Blue replies. They're broken in the same way, two people who sacrificed so much but had it taken away at the last second, who reforged their happiness and refused to let it break again. 

"No." Her smile is a little sharp, and her bared teeth seem like a threat more than anything. Blue grins back, fierce and just a little feral. "I quite like that." 

He can see where she's coming from. It's—nice. To have some kind of mutual understanding, a knowledge that your sharp edges won't sting someone who has those edges just like you do. 

"So, Lance is being terrible about Kells training on Mount Silver." He says. He means it as tacit permission to continue if she needs to.  

It's nice to not have to spell things out for people. 

She huffs. "It's not even—it's not his  _business_ ," Her hand jerks like she wants to shake some sense into an imaginary Lance. He wonders idly if she's defending Kelly out of respect, fondness for him, annoyance for Lance, or some combination of the three. "If he doesn't want to be Champion, he can't—" 

"Do that?" Blue supplies dryly when it becomes clear that she's having trouble giving words to her anger. 

"Yes." Her expression twists again. "Kelly can take care of herself. She wouldn't have made Champion otherwise." 

"Right," He says, moving past her to get to the pancakes on the counter. He takes a plate and seats himself at the kitchen table while she makes several aborted jerking motions like she's shaking someone. 

* * *

Kelly stares at the person on top of the mountain. "What?" She says, blinking. 

The person doesn't tense, only turns around, perfectly calm. He's only in jeans, a t-shirt, and a faded red cap. 

Wait. She squints at him. "...You're Red, aren't you." She sounds perfectly calm, but her heart is pounding in her ears. He ran off to the top of a mountain? Christ, Blue's going to lose it. 

He nods. 

Kelly doesn't scowl, but her expression isn't particularly friendly either. "You ran up here." She says flatly. "And left everything a mess." 

He nods again. God, does he even care? 

"Okay." She takes a breath, letting the cool mountain air clear her head a bit. "If it's of any interest to you, I'm the Champion now." 

He looks up at her from under his hat, then holds up a Pokéball in question. 

Kelly huffs out a breath, thinking. "Alright." She says slowly. "I'll be here for the next few days. A week, maybe. Training. I'll update you on what you missed." 

He shrugs, then throws his ball. 

* * *

ladies, gentlemen, those who are neither, and those who are all, i have officially graduated. now i have two weeks before i'm whisked off to kalos. 

#blue blathers #i've finally done it 

62 notes

* * *

"So, how well did you know Blue Oak?" Kelly asks nonchalantly, returning her conscious but battered Gyrados. 

Red looks up at her sharply, so fast it might've hurt, cradling his fainted Pikachu in his arms. 

"I'm assuming you knew him, then. He's my mentor, you know." Kelly hums, slow and pleased. She beat Red. She still deserves her Championship. She doesn't know what could be better than this. 

 _Guys being dudes_ , her mind supplies. She huffs out a breathy laugh and turns to walk away. 

Red stares at her. Then, he follows, still cradling Pikachu. 

"Hm?" Kelly's eyebrow quirks, head tilting so she can look at him from the corner of her eye. "Do you want me to regale you with tales of your old rival?" She can't help her pleased drawl, slow and lazy. Post-battle adrenaline still rushes through her veins, though she's careful not to show it. 

He speeds up so that he's next to her. Her other eyebrow quirks. "I'm taking that as a yes," she warns. Pausing, she says, "Did you know he lives with Agatha now?"

Red stares at her from under his cap. Kelly can't see him, but she can tell. 

"Yeah. Apparently Oak was a sucky grandparent." Kelly says, putting her Pokéballs back on her belt. Wait. Was Red around when Silph Co. developed modern-day electronics? 

Apparently her face is doing something weird because Red stops and stares at her curiously. 

"You weren't around when phones and iPads and laptops became a thing, were you?" She asks shrewdly. 

Red blinks slowly at her, eyes fixed on a point just beyond her shoulder. 

Kelly clicks her tongue. "I wonder how good service is up here." She says, and then shakes her head. "No, not risking it. Anyway, Oak was negligent so Blue went to court and went to live with his Grandma Agatha instead. Also, he's studying to become a Pokémon researcher." 

Red blinks once, twice, and then goes perfectly still beside her. 

When she looks at him, he looks right through her. 

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**February 21, 10:43 am**

BlueOak: guess who graduated!

CedarElm: you?

BlueOak: me! 

AugustS: I'll start getting your room prepared, then. 

BlueOak: that'd probably be best, yeah

CedarElm: i have news that may be upsetting

BlueOak: ?

CedarElm: [link]

* * *

Blue stares at the screen. Then, he starts cackling. 

Grandma blinks at him, diving to catch his phone when it falls out of his lax grip. 

"Rainbow Rocket," He cackles. "In Alola."

"What." She says flatly. She glances down at the article and lets out a quiet, incredulous huff of laughter at the bright uniforms. "Is Giovanni still at the head of all this?" She asks, tone light.

Blue shrugs, still laughing. 

* * *

"You could come down." Kelly suggests slowly. "I beat you. You're not Champion anymore. Everybody's looking at me, or at Blue. You can relax and slink out of the spotlight."

Red blinks, shaking his head. 

"Blue's coming up to check on me in ten days, anyway." She says; he tenses and looks straight at her. "He'll know you're here." 

He jerks upwards from where he's sitting on the cave rocks. 

"No pressure." Kelly says. "Not intentional pressure anyway, but..." She trails off, making a dismissive gesture in nearly the same way Blue does. 

He slowly sits back down. 

"Did you ever consider the effects of your actions?" Her voice is genuinely curious, light. "Your mom probably thinks you're dead, Oak—much as I hate him—was probably shattered by your disappearance." Her face twists a little. "Or did you just not care?" 

Red blinks, confused. 

"You didn't realize, did you?" She says, horror slowly bleeding into her tone. "Christ. You didn't  _realize_ —" She cuts herself off, shakes her head. "Never mind. You made your bed, go on and lie on it." She stands fluidly, leaving Red behind. 

* * *

Daisy Oak ✓  
@dazedoak

congratulations to @bluesoak for graduating!

Feb 21 - 11:21 am 

* * *

Red blinks at nothing. Blue? Here? Sure, it's for that Kelly girl, but he's going to be here, and he's—

he doesn't know—

Soft, staticky noises flood his ears. Blue being here would be—

wonderful and amazing and terrible. Red could  _see_ him, could maybe talk to him, could—

(Blue, eyes cold and smile mocking, all of eight years old and already holding the key to his heart. Blue, poison and anger and too-feral smiles, always aggressive, always hiding what he really feels behind a wall of anger that Red didn't—doesn't know how to knock down). 

Kelly had said that he mentored her. What is that like? To be mentored by Blue? What is he like when he isn't angry and bitter? 

Is he kind to her? Is he patient? 

Red likes to think he is. Likes to imagine that the friend he knew isn't gone, only shifted focus. Likes to think that maybe he'll get back—

(blissful days rushing around, playing tag and hearing Blue's voice be fond and teasing and bright, "you're it, now!" he says, and then races off in another direction). 

He huffs to himself. His eyes are not wet. They're not. Still. Kelly said that he was going to be a professor. 

How is that working out for him? Is he happy? That's all Red wants for him, really, just his happiness. 

Because for all that he may try to pretend otherwise, he loves Blue. Did. Does. Will, always. 

Is Red happy with his life? No. He hasn't really been happy since he was eight years old. 

 


	19. Chapter 19

Blue glances up at Grandma's phone when it starts ringing. She picks it up, vaguely confused. 

"Hello?" She says. There's a very long pause. Grandma's face goes from confused, to incredulous, to annoyed, to pissed off. "No." She says flatly. 

Very faint, indecipherable yelling. Grandma calmly holds the phone at arm's length and brings it back to her ear when the yelling stops. 

Blue blinks. What's going on?

"Fine, go to Kelly and talk to her." There's an odd, almost gleeful tone in her voice, though people who don't know her well won't recognize it. "She's my boss." She reminds the person on the other end. "On Mount Silver or not, minor or not, she _is_ still my legal boss." 

He blinks again. What? What does Kelly have to do with any of this? 

"No, I won't give up my position. Even with my recommendation, you'd need to go through an extensive testing period for battle prowess, adherence to the laws, etcetera etcetera." She pauses to let the person speak, and says, "Well, Championship rules are different. Beyond that, you'd need to get all eight badges from all eight gyms—and we know when they're counterfeit—battle and beat each of the Elite Four, and beat the Champion." 

Faint, angry noises like a disturbed Persian, then a long silence. Grandma's eyebrows have risen as high as they'll go by this point. 

"Right," She says slowly. "Go ahead and call a lawyer, I'm sure they'd  _love_ to take this case." Her voice is thick with disbelief. After a moment, she lowers the phone and shakes her head. "Some people..."

"What's up?" Blue asks. 

"Entitled man coming for my title." She grunts, scowling.

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Feb 22, 9:02 am**

some dude tried to take grandma's spot on the elite four thru a phone call

i'm sorry WHAT

yeah it happened just now

grandma's training in order to blow off some steam 

i can't believe

wait

through a PHONE CALL?

yes

some people...

that's exactly what grandma said omg

wow i actually act kind of like my grandma???

 lies. slander. see me in court

lmaooooo

* * *

Kelly glances up from her training to see Red watching her Pokémon with a calculating look in his eyes. "Hey," She says. He doesn't say anything back, only offers her a quick twist of his mouth and a nod. 

Pikachu sits on his shoulder, cheeks sparking a little. She's given him enough pleasantries. She turns her attention back to her Pokémon. Arbok hits Magnezone with a Gunk Shot, which would be useless if not for the fact that he's getting in some more aiming experience and Magnezone is training up his evasiveness. 

Her mouth twists in sympathy as she hears Venusaur grunt in pain. She loves all her Pokémon equally, of course, but the bond between starter and trainer is just. 

Different. Not bad different, just. Different. 

Scyther comes zooming past her, trying to dodge Gyrados' Thunderbolts. Pidgeot circles above, eyeing Venusaur carefully. 

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 22, 9:43 am**

Kukui: hey @BlueOak quick question

BlueOak: yeah?

Kukui: how do you calm down a female dog in heat

Kukui: they all display similar instincts right

BlueOak: yes

BlueOak: is there a male in the area?

Kukui: no

BlueOak: okay. can i call you?

Kukui: sure

* * *

"Okay," Blue says once Kukui's picked up, "give me a rundown on her situation."

"She—I think this is her first heat. It's certainly mine!" Kukui laughs shortly, anxious and trying to distract himself. 

"That's fine," Blue says, well aware that this is also the first time he's had to apply his knowledge in real life beyond a computer screen. "Alright, so I'm operating under the assumption that this is her first heat. Try to give her more attention, or maybe less. It depends on the dog. Give her a lot more exercise, but try to shorten the walks. Take multiple, short walks per day, it helps them sleep better." 

"Okay." Kukui says. "More attention, shorter, more frequent walks. Got it. What next?"

"Alternative if you wanna keep her inside, figure out some new tricks. You're aiming to tire her out mentally, not seriously teach her." Blue chews his lip, thinking, and then says, "I can give you a TLDR." 

"Yes. Please." 

"Keep her calm and mentally stimulated." Blue thinks he can hear scribbling in the background. "Couldn't the internet give you the info you need?"

"Internet's too torn," Kukui mumbles, muffled. "Thanks for this, man. Listen, I hate to hang up so soon, but Burnet's calling me."

"Sure, enjoy your honeymoon." Blue waits for the click, then breathes a Kalosian expletive. 

* * *

i just gave professor kukui some advice on pokémon behavior and tbqh i think my soul ascended out of this plane

#why are you trusting me with this kukui #i cannot be trusted #blue blathers

56 notes

* * *

em!   
@emallie

i cannot believe i get to intern with @AureaJuniper after i graduate! im so excited!

Feb 22 - 10:06 am

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 22, 10:20 am**

AugustS: What do you guys think of Galar?

BlueOak: of what now

AugustS: [link]

BlueOak: FOR FUCK'S SAKE

BlueOak: how many fucking regions are there

BlueOak: brb gotta go take a crash course about galar

**Feb 22, 10:28 am**

AureaJun: Wait, what?

AureaJun: I'm with Blue—how many regions  _are_ there?

**Feb 22, 10:32 am**

AugustS: Would it be too soon to suggest adding any regional professors they have to this group chat?

* * *

can any of my followers from galar explain why the fuck i only heard of your region now or 

#blue blathers #im honestly so confused #are you the cryptids of the universe or what????? #bc i genuinely only learned about you like #twenty minutes ago #galar explain

53 notes

_espeonage reblogged your post_

we're all cryptids lol

#lmao yeah we try to stay outta foreign affairs #it doesn't surprise me that you had no idea we existed 

_blueoakokay reblogged your post_

oh thank god i did not do a faux-pas 

#it was a genuine worry of mine #and you turn out to just be The Region Of Cryptids #fuck i don't know whether i love it or hate it


	20. Chapter 20

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 23, 9:32 am**

_AugustS has added WillWillow to this group chat!_

BlueOak: hi welcome to chili's

WillWillow: I hate that I know what that is. 

BlueOak: how do you even know what that is

WillWillow: My research assistants constantly reference these things they call "memes" and "vines". To be fair, it's mostly Spark and Candela, but Blanche does it as well. 

BlueOak: also if you're expecting this group chat to be serious

BlueOak: it's not. at all. ever 

AugustS: ^ 

WillWillow: Well. You lied to me @AugustS

AugustS: I said, and I quote, "Would you like to be added to a group chat consisting of myself and a few of my colleagues?" 

AugustS: Any assumptions you made about the contents were your own. 

WillWillow: Are you a lawyer in your spare time or something?

AugustS: Not that I'm aware of! 

BlueOak: so can i meet these meme assistants? they sound really cool

WillWillow: I could just add all three of my research assistants if that would be okay. 

AureaJun: I don't see why not. 

BlueOak: how long have you been lurking?

AureaJun: This entire conversation. 

_WillWillow has added candelabra, blanche of champagne, and sparkle to this group chat!_

blanche of champagne: hi hello why am i here what's going on

sparkle: i heard memes?

candelabra: you had me at memes

BlueOak: hi welcome to chili's

sparkle: !

candelabra: !!

blanche of champagne: !!!

blanche of champagne: before we go any further i would like to inform all of you that i am nb and to please use they/them when referring to me

BlueOak: yeah okay i can do that

BlueOak: also did you plan that or

candelabra: yeah we did lol

* * *

_sparkle has created a new group chat!_

_sparkle has changed the name to "researchers & memes, we're living the dream"_

_sparkle has added BlueOak, candelabra, and blanche of champagne to this group chat!_

**Feb 23, 9:40 am**

BlueOak: name's a little long winded

sparkle: yeah well your name is stuffy

BlueOak: ...well shit you got me there

_BlueOak has changed their name to sad gay_

sparkle: lmao nice

sad gay: thanks i try

* * *

okay i now have three (3) more friends what is my life and also how

#i still adore kelly and she is The Best and i am so proud of her etc #but also i have!!! more friends!!! #blue blathers

64 notes

* * *

 "What is Galar and why haven't I heard of it," Grandma says, very flatly. 

"I know!" Blue groans. "Like, how many regions are there? Are there like fifty? Is that what this is? Are they protected by the Illuminati?"

"I'll make sure to ask," Grandma replies, tone unchanged. 

"Wait." He says. "What?" 

* * *

is my grandma part of the illuminati

#blue blathers #wait #can I be part of the illuminati????????

53 notes

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Feb 23, 10:53 am**

is grandma part of the illuminati

conspiracy theory 

no no im serious

i said "are there more regions which are being hidden by the illuminati" 

and she said "i'll make sure to ask"

and like? i would believe she's joking

except she's powerful enough to qualify 

so now im wondering if _i_ can be part of the illuminati 

* * *

Kelly huffs and brushes snow out of her hair. "This snow," She says, to no one in particular, "is awful and I don't know why I decided to train here of all places."  

Arbok spits out a Gunk Shot at Magnezone, which manages to miss and completely break a huge boulder. 

"Oh," She says slowly. "Right." 

She turns to her bag to get another PP restore, noting the newness of it proudly.  _Kelly Morgan Prince_ is emblazoned on it, stitched into the very fabric itself. Maybe an impulsive buy, but she's got the money and it always makes her happy to look at. 

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@bluesoak 

also if it wasnt already obvious im gay 

Feb 23 - 11:04 am 

* * *

TO: blueoak@gmail.com 

FROM: aura-adepts-business@gmail.com 

SUBJECT: Cameo on our show?

Hi Blue,

We noticed that you're a fan of our show and would like to know if you'd like to have a cameo on one of the episodes of our next season. 

Feel free to either reject or accept our offer, but do keep in mind we'd like a response in the next seven days. If you are interested, let us know and our team can hammer out specifics with you. 

Oh, and try to keep the news of a new season (and your potential cameo) to yourself. We don't want to spoil it just yet. 

Best, 

Jessica Moren, Head of Public Relations

* * *

**researchers & memes, we're living the dream**

**Feb 23, 11:21 am**

candelabra: hey can somebody tell me why there's an abra following me around or

sad gay: you probably have food that it likes 

candelabra: yeah seems legit 

candelabra: thanks man

sad gay: np 

blanche of champagne: so you're interning with sycamore, right?

sad gay: yeah 

sad gay: in like a week i'm headed off to kalos so my internship can start ~officially~ 

sparkle: dude's got nice hair

sad gay: ^ 

candelabra: ^^

blanche of champagne: ^^^

candelabra: blanche also has nice hair

sad gay: ?

candelabra: [it-them.jpg] 

sad gay: blanche has?? such pretty hair??

blanche of champagne: thanks i try my best

candelabra: no you don't

candelabra: at one point you literally went "what would happen if i let a macargo singe my hair" and then you went and did it

sad gay: #exposed

blanche of champagne: i had the singed part trimmed off at least

sparkle: you take zero (0) care of yourself and you're still???????? prettier than me????????? 

sparkle: im jealous

* * *

"So anyway, I ran up to him like an idiot and was like 'hey we should battle!' because I—at the time—had no idea who he was," Kelly takes a bite of her sandwich, chews, then swallows before continuing. "So he absolutely wrecked me." 

Red's mouth twists up, a little proud. 

"Yeah yeah. So apparently, while he was one-hit KOing my team, he saw some kind of potential or something. So he was like, 'hey, let's keep in touch' and gave me his number." She laughs a little. "That's how we met. And also how he started mentoring me." 

Red's expression turns thoughtful, eyes fixed on the rock-face beyond her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those who were curious abt "blanche of champagne", that was an actual historical duchess and i was like "yes this seems like smth blanche would do bc? they love champagne"


	21. Chapter 21

**researchers & memes, we're living the dream**

**Feb 24, 8:53 am**

blanche of champagne: i wish there was like? a version of prince or princess or king or queen or whatever

blanche of champagne: but for nb people?

sad gay: their highness/their majesty/the ruler of the land

blanche of champagne: you know what im using that now 

candelabra: but babe would that make me queen or queen consort or ruler-consort or

blanche of champagne: you can be queen consort 

sad gay: oh wow you two are together? 

sad gay: i ship it

candelabra: same

blanche of champagne: same

sad gay: hey where's spark

candelabra: prolly still asleep lmap

sad gay: lmap

blanche of champagne: lmap 

candelabra: this is cyberbullying

* * *

Blue types a reply to Aura Adepts' head of PR. Wow, what even is his life? He gets to (potentially) cameo on one of his favorite shows and he has confirmed proof that there's another season in the works. 

Hah! Mopey, broody Blue would be so shocked right now. A decent job offer, some genuine friends, family life (at least those he wants to keep close) is good, and he's got some actual hobbies and interests outside of battling. 

Grandma clicks her tongue in order to get his attention. He raises an eyebrow at her. 

"Have you spoken to your sister recently?" 

By spoken to, does she mean texted, talked to on the phone, exchanged memes with, had entire conversations via gifs with, tweeted at, spoken to Bill (and by extension Daisy, because those two are almost always together) or spoken in person?

"I called Bill yesterday and Daisy chimed in for about five minutes." He offers. "That's the last time we spoke voice-to-voice." 

"It'll do." She says, grabbing her keys. "I need her help with something." The way she says  _something_ makes an odd chill travel up his spine even though he knows that Grandma loves him and wouldn't permanently harm him for anything in the world. 

"Something," He repeats, "what's _something_?" 

She raises an eyebrow before ultimately deciding to indulge him. "Well, Daisy happens to live quite close to Pallet Town. I figured I'd drop in for a visit before stopping by the labs to... _check in on_ old Samuel, with her in tow." 

"But taking both of us would just attract the press like Mandibuzz to a fresh corpse." He realizes. 

"Yes." She agrees, pleased. "Plus, it's good one-on-one bonding."

He can't quite fault her logic, though the fact that she considers dropping by Oak Labs to scream at him—or something—makes him smirk. "Send pictures." He requests. 

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Feb 24, 9:54 am**

[the lab's a mess and so are we.jpg] 

this is surprisingly good bonding time

*gasp* you're like grandma

blasphemy

she egged his chair lmao

proof

[proof.jpg] 

wow i love her

is that silly string?????

oh my god

blue oh my god

she has whipped cream

ASDFGHJKL; 

this is hilarious 

brb gonna go egg his ceiling i'll send u a pic of the finished result 

* * *

**bill nye the science guy**

**Feb 24, 10:04 am**

are you aware of just how intimidating your grandma is

when she went to pick up daisy, she looked me up and down, went "okay" and i swear my soul left my body bc i was so scared

like oak interrogated me for a full five minutes and i was still less scared 

she spent ~10 seconds on me and i could see my life flashing before my eyes

wow you are so dramatic

but also grandma just has that effect 

but if it makes you feel better, she likes you

how do you know that

like legit how

if she disliked you she would have done much more than look you up and down

she probably wouldve stared into your soul

well now im terrified times 20

nah dw its chill 

but jsyk she'd probably make you wish you werent born were you to break daisy's heart

you remember #wtfoak right

ofc i do

everything was pandemonium and everybody hates oak now

think that but worse

Oh No

don't break daisy's heart lmao

i didnt plan to before and i definitely dont plan to now

* * *

Kelly huffs, breath misting in front of her as she watches Red's Pokémon train against hers. They're the ones controlling this training session—not that she controls  _all_ of their training sessions, but she usually has at least a say in what they're doing. 

Now it's all them, and not that she doesn't trust her Pokémon, but seeing Scyther barely dodge a Body-Slam from Snorlax gives her anxiety. 

Red watches too, a pensive look on his face. 

"So," She says to break the silence, "are you, like, entirely mute?" She'd usually hold her tongue against such random and invasive questions, but Red doesn't seem aware of the stigma. Or maybe he just doesn't care. 

He blinks at her, then shakes his head. 

Huh. Okay then. She nods and turns back to the mock-battle. 

* * *

**Pokémon Professors**

**Feb 24, 10:43 am**

kukui: @sad gay your tips really helped thanks man

sad gay: no problem 

AureaJun: Why is your username "sad gay"?

sad gay: *to the tune of cliche by mxmtoon* 'cause that's all i am, a simple sad gay 

blanche of champagne: nice! 

sad gay: thanks i try 

candelabra: *one google search later* woah that actually fits

sparkle: *soothing ukulele* 

AugustS: You know, we should probably change the chat name 

_AureaJun changed the chat name to "Pokémon Researchers"_

sad gay: :,) inclusivity 

* * *

yo gimme some music suggestions,,,,,,i am bored of my music taste bc its mostly just Sad and Angry and mental health betterment or whatever is difficult when you hear  _FINDERS KEEPERS LOSERS WEEPERS_ in your ear when all u want is classy but feel-good music

#blue blathers #dont get me wrong i love panic! #but at the same time #feeling good is great too! #drop me an ask or smth Please 

* * *

blanche out babe @blanchebb ⋅ 1h

exhausted intern things: when ur boss tells u to do the thing u hate doing just bc he doesnt feel like doing it

em! @emallie ⋅ 5m 

exhausted student thing except its ur teacher telling u to do an essay bc "you have to for your grades" 

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**Feb 24, 11:21 am**

[the finished product.jpg]

skskskssk i love it sm 

mood


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ladies gentlemen, those who are neither and those who are all, this is (some of) the moment(s) you've been waiting for!

"Hey, what's gotten into you?" Kelly asks Red's Pikachu, who's clamped his tiny, furry paws into the hem of her jeans and is not letting go. "Is Red alright?"

"Pika!" The mouse says, which doesn't help. He does start trying to drag her somewhere though. "Pi pika chu pi!" 

What? She makes sure to keep her voice soothing when she speaks next, though. "It's okay, I'll follow you." 

Thus reassured, the mouse zooms off in the direction of their— _Red's_ , she refuses to become a shut-in hermit, like he is, damn it—cave. She follows as promised, concern zipping through her like little shots of lightning. 

* * *

ladies and gentlemen, i have an official ticket for kalos. im leaving on march 4th 

#blue blathers #the journey continues #how long is my internship? unclear #but i think it'll be like two years or smth 

43 notes

* * *

"Red?" She asks cautiously, peeking her head into the cave. Pikachu sits next to a five-foot -something lump, watching it in obvious concern. "Hey, what's up?" 

He tosses a rock in the direction of her voice. It doesn't do much. She snorts despite herself. "You missed." She says. 

The lump gets lumpier if that's even possible. A clear  _go away_. Good thing Kelly's so used to ignoring social conventions when they don't suit her, and this one definitely doesn't. "Red, c'mon." She says, practically wheedling. "What's up?" 

He doesn't reply. Then again he never does, so. She sighs a little and sits next to him. He emerges for a second just to blink at her. 

"I'm going to sit here until you feel less," she glances at him, uncertain, and then finishes, lamely, "that." 

He reemerges and blinks again. 

She shrugs and brings out a book from her bag, soon getting lost in the high fantasy afforded by the Aura Guardians and their mostly-unknown powers. 

He stares at her, not that she's aware of it, too lost in the Prologue. She'd brought three books up as a way to entertain herself on (what she thought was) a lonely peak, but she hadn't had to bring even  _one_ of the novels out.

After a moment, he places a hesitant hand on her shoulder. She tenses, blinks, then calms herself down. "Red?" She asks quietly. 

He opens his mouth, licks his lips, and says, scratchy, quiet and hoarse, "thank you, Kelly."

"Of course." She replies immediately and then blinks at him. He just. He just  _spoke to her_. He  _said her name_. 

* * *

nessie  
@ladyoflochness 

how's champion kelly doing, do you think? 

Feb 26 - 9:53 am 

* * *

"Social anxiety?" Kelly repeats. "You made your mother sick with worry and guilt over  _social anxiety_?" 

"Yes," Red says, blunt and precise. 

Kelly makes a frustrated noise and socks him in the shoulder. "Dude, uncool," she scolds. Arceus help her, she's supposed to be the  _younger_ sister, not the responsible one. "Seriously, at least send your mom a message or something!" God, she can't believe she idolized him. 

Red shrugs his not-punched shoulder, though she can read faint guilt in his expression. "She knows what I'm like." He rationalizes. 

"All she knows is that you were champion and then you were gone." Kelly deadpans. "She thinks you're dead. Blue says you're missing, but it's pretty clear he also thinks you went and offed yourself."

Red's mouth twists. Kelly feels guilty until she remembers that a) she's literally his only voice of reason and b) voices of reason are supposed to be blunt. Still, she's like ninety percent sure she upset him. 

"Look, all I'm saying is that you can at least write a message to your mom. She'll spread the news that you're up here so you don't have to, and that way nobody thinks you're dead. Plus, you'll get strong challengers from time to time." 

Red shrugs his not-injured shoulder again and holds his hands out expectantly. 

Huh. Easier than she thought. She obediently goes to retrieve a mechanical pencil and a piece of paper. "You have to write it yourself. Otherwise, nobody will believe that it's actually from you." She warns. "Do you even remember how to write, Mountain Man?" 

Red gives her a look, eyes focused on her cheek rather than her eyes. 

"Fine, fine! Here." 

* * *

**Hi, mom. Surprise, I'm not actually dead.**

* * *

Kelly gives him a look. "That," she says slowly, "is an awful note to send your mom after letting her think you were dead for years." 

Red makes a face at her, literally just a flatter stare than usual. She shrugs. "If I got that after years of my kid being gone I'd track them down just to punch them in the face." She informs him bluntly. 

* * *

**Hi mom, am not dead. Please don't punch me in the face.**

**Red**

* * *

"I guess." Kelly sighs. "But, y'know, she'd probably like to hear that you love her after all this time playing dead." She looks at him sharply. He doesn't meet her eyes, but he almost never does. "Unless that's untrue, of course...?" She says, in a tone that clearly conveys what the right response is. 

Red makes another face, this one slightly pained. 

* * *

**Hi mom, am not dead. Please don't punch me in the face.**

**Love, Red.**

* * *

"It'll do," Kelly says. He doesn't mince his words, that's for sure. "Now give it here." 

He passes it over. 

"Cool, I'll leave in the morning." She tells him. He looks up so sharply she's briefly concerned for his neck. "What? Did you think I'd stay here forever? For one, my supplies are running low. I also need to give this to your mom, who is  _not_ on Mount Silver." 

Red's eyes do something complicated that she can't quite read. 

"You can come with me or you can stay here. The choice is yours, but I'm leaving wether you come or not." She glances outside, wondering how her Pokémon are doing. They're more well-behaved than Red is by far, which is a huge relief. "See you at dinner, Mountain Man." 

He stares at her full on, which makes her pause. "Red?" She asks. "What's up?" 

He shrugs both of his shoulders and grimaces. "Nothing." He says. 

* * *

When she climbs onto her Pidgeot the next morning, he watches her do it, Pikachu on his shoulder as always. 

"This is your chance to join me in civilization, Mountain Man," She says. She's joking, of course, she's fully aware that he won't—

He climbs onto his Charizard. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**Febuary 26, 1:53 pm**

i have returned to civilization

congrats on graduating

thanks welcome back

i have news that may upset you

?

[look who it is.jpg]

_Read 1:54 pm_

* * *

What the fuck. Blue stares at his phone, bile rising to his mouth. He swallows it back forcefully and goes to find his Grandma.

She's sitting on the porch. He comes outside to talk to her. 

She takes one look at his face and says, "You need to rant at someone, don't you." 

"Please." He nearly begs, that picture still seared into his eyes and his mind. 

"Come on then," She stands gracefully, suddenly twice the force of nature she usually is. 

* * *

"And she just sends his picture like it's nothing. Like he hasn't been gone for—I don't even know how long, at this point! He's sitting on his Charizard and it's obviously taken in mid-air because the picture's so shaky. It's obviously him though, and that means he's been on Mount Silver all these years! It—" He nearly draws blood because his nails are drawn so tightly to his palm in his fists. "I don't get it. Why did he run off? He had his supposed dream, he'd taken down Team Rocket, things were going good for him and he just—" Blue stops. 

"Left." Grandma fills in, sympathetic but no-nonsense. 

"Yeah. He—he left." All of a sudden, Blue feels wrung out and shaky, wrong in his own skin. "I'm not even upset at Kelly. It's just him. _He_ made the choice to leave with no notice. _He_ decided that everything he was working towards for his entire journey wasn't worth it and then just left. He could've just resigned, but  _no_ ," He draws out the word 'no for about fifteen syllables, "he had to run up a goddamn mountain, because that makes  _so much sense_. No it doesn't! It makes no goddamn sense!" 

Grandma's face does something odd when she says, "You seem very invested in his decision-making,"

" _Yeah_ , I'm invested! If he wasn't interested, why couldn't he just leave the position to me? Even second placers have to win _sometimes_. Why couldn't he just let me have that, if he was just going to leave anyway?" Blue huffs, fists relaxing, cheeks flushed bright red. "It wouldn't have felt like a consolation prize then. Not like it did when Lance mentioned he might've given it to me." 

Grandma hums but doesn't respond. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**Feb 26, 2:36 pm**

i had to go rant to grandma. how far are you from pallet?

i'm almost to cerulean. i have no idea where red is tho

his charizard is slower then my pidgeot

* * *

tfw u rant for literally half an hour

#blue blathers #honestly bless grandma for putting up with my sorry ass #but in my defense it was very rant-worthy

59 notes

* * *

BREAKING NEWS: Former Champion Red Spotted Flying Over Saffron City

kantodigest · 1 minute ago


	23. Chapter 23

Kelly lands in front of Blue's house with caution written in every line of her body. Blue leans against his doorway. He's been waiting for her. 

(The idea makes her blood turn cold as ice in her veins.) 

"...Hey, Blue?" She tries cautiously, staying on top of her Pidgeot. 

"Kelly! Kelly, Kelly, Kelly," He says. He bares his teeth at her, a sharp mockery of a smile. She tenses more, some primal instinct warning her to get away from the threat. She stays quiet, heart racing as he stares her down. "Well, come inside." 

She does, clambering off Pidgeot. He likes her. She'll be fine. 

(Right?) 

* * *

Red disembarks from Charizard with the air of a soldier marching to his doom. Or his death. Or both. Possibly both. 

Mom throws her door open. He tenses, stiffening at the look in her bloodshot eyes. "And where have you been?" She demands, running a hand through unruly brown hair. 

"...On Mount Silver." He says. For some reason, his instincts tell him that this was the wrong thing to say, for all that it's the truth.

"Did you have a nice time?" Mom asks, voice light. "Did you enjoy making me think you were dead?" 

Red's instincts are screaming. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't say anything. Mom's eyes sharpen. 

* * *

lisa   
@luxrayed 

guys guys champion red is back? except he's not champion anymore bc champion kelly beat him 

* * *

back at it again with the white vans  
@ginaflitane 

guys. guys. champion kelly dethroned a living legend and im so gay

* * *

blue oak appreciation  
@inthefeelings 

blue oak mentored the person who'd go on to drag his rival down the mountain with her superior battle skills. iconic. 

* * *

Blue regards Kelly with an impassive curiosity that reminds her of a scientist observing his findings and seeing them not fit to his hypothesis. She fidgets under that steady gaze, eyes darting around the room in order to either find an escape or avoid his gaze. Or both. 

Eventually, he moves. Kelly tenses even further as he moves ever closer.

"Would you like to tell me why you didn't warn me that Red was on Mount Silver?" He asks, voice soft and quiet but still extremely dangerous, and for a moment Kelly understands why people call him intimidating. When he's loud, he's bluffing. When his voice goes soft and calm and there's a cool detachment in his gaze?

 _Then_ he's terrifying. 

She clears her throat nervously. "I—I didn't know," she says, and then, "I wasn't expecting to get him down the mountain. I was going to tell you when I left, but he followed when I wasn't expecting him to."

"Hm," says Blue dispassionately.

Agatha, who's been sitting and nursing a coffee for the entirety of this interrogation/intimidation, finally downs the last of it. "Come off it," she says blandly. "You're not upset at Kelly." 

"Ugh," says Blue, and wanders off. 

* * *

**bill nye the science guy**

**Feb 26, 3:54 pm**

i want to punch red in his stupid face

how dare he just come back out of nowhere like its nothing

sounds awful

it IS. and like? he couldve fuckin left a note or some bullshit excuse but nope he just up and left and now he wants to come back like nothings changed and it just

fuck, bill. 

i'd offer to let you stay the night but i get the feeling being closer to pallet is a bad idea

yeah i'd rather not do that thanks

sentiment appreciated tho

* * *

"—and let's not even...no. You know what? Let's mention the fact that you sent the world into cardiac arrest and let's talk about how the media had a tacky hashtag about your death that I had to see wherever I went, and let's mention the fact that complete strangers stopped me in the street to either cry about my child's  _death_ , offer hollow condolences, tell me that everything would be okay soon, or something along those lines. You were gone and everyone knew it and they were mourning, sure, but none of them knew you like I do, and now you turn up out of nowhere with some paltry, less-than-ten-words note and expect me to just adjust myself in two seconds?" 

Red stares at nothing, dead-eyed. It's too late to go back up Mount Silver, but he can abscond to some other place. Fiorre, maybe. 

Almost as if she can read his thoughts, Mom says, "Don't you dare think of running away again." 

* * *

 

Kelly sips at a mug of peppermint tea in companionable silence with Agatha, who's currently regarding her phone with detached amusement. 

"The world has collectively decided you're a legend," says Agatha out of nowhere. 

"What?" Kelly replies intelligently. She shakes her head a bit to clear it. "Why?" 

"They're all convinced you beat Red—"

"I did!" Kelly says loudly. 

"—and are singing your praises and calling you 'a living legend'," Agatha continues like she wasn't interrupted. 

"Everybody who's been a Champion and is still alive is a living legend," says Blue out of nowhere. She very nearly spills her tea. "Careful." 

(Her blood unfreezes and hope unfurls in her chest, beating in time to her heartbeat.)

* * *

**Pokémon Researchers**

**Feb 26, 4:24 pm**

sad gay: if i write a book will you let me publish it @AugustS

AugustS: Of course, provided you give me a copy. 

sad gay: sure i'll share the first two chapters

_sad gay has shared a link_

**Feb 26, 4:48 pm**

AugustS: I don't think I've laughed that hard in months. 

* * *

**researchers & memes, we're living the dream**

**Feb 26, 5:14 pm**

sparkle: im crying 

sparkle: "just because they’re rubbing up against your furniture, does not mean your cat’s made friends with your coffee table" please stop making me laugh so much okay i can't breathe bc i busted a gut laughing at this

candelabra: tag yourself i'm "keep your polish away from strange onixes" 

blanche of champagne: i'm "no more nap times for your cat"

sparkle: i'm "a dumb, graceless, hairless, huge kitten" 

 

 

 


	24. Chapter 24

  **thunder thighs**

**Feb 27, 9:05 am**

i am having a Crisis

that sucks, what's up?

i'm into candela.

dude tf

it's worse bc i'm also into blanche

huh 

okay so what are you going to do about it

cry and then never speak to either of them ever again lmao

dude i'm serious

idk i guess i just pine and hope neither of them bring it up??????

:/ but u.......deserve nice things

like girlfriends and date-mates

wow is this ur way of telling me u love me

bitch— 

* * *

nia   
@goodragon 

ok i get that red was like,,,,,hella important for Taking Down The Baddies and that as a kalosian i have no right to butt into kantonian affairs but tbh? blue and kelly are far better than he is 

_show replies_

sammy boi @stressedaf  _replying to_ @goodragon

no no you're right and you should say it

me myself and i just wanna cry @ridiculouslyy-  _replying to_  @goodragon

he lost all importance when it was revealed that he hid on a mountain. you're good

wrenn @gooddoggos  _replying to_  @goodragon

girl we been knew 

* * *

"Hey," Kelly says, "are we good?" The memory of that cool, detached gaze still gives her shivers, so while she's like ninety five percent sure she knows what his answer will be, she'd still like to check. 

Blue looks up from the latest chapter of his book. "We're great," he says. "Also, people are praising me." 

"That's...good," says Kelly hesitantly, because while she agrees that Blue deserves praise—"why does that matter?" 

"It doesn't," says Blue, laughing. "It's just funny, because I can remember thinking that I'd kill for people to appreciate me just two months ago, give or take a few days, and now..." 

Oh. She laughs too. "Don't murder people. Then you'd be the fixation of teenage girls everywhere who would be calling you  _misunderstood and h_ _elpless_." Kelly makes her voice high and mocking when she says the last three words. 

Blue snorts and shoves a pillow at her. She dodges it gracefully, but he just pursues until he gets a hit in. They're both cackling like evil witches.   

* * *

"Blue, why is Spark avoiding us?" Candela demands. 

Blue blinks at the phone. "I don't think I can tell you." He says. "Ask him yourself." Spark never said not to tell, but he figures that it wouldn't be a good idea to just go  _oh yeah he's avoiding you because he's into you both. Have fun with that information_. 

"But we  _can't_ ," Blanche says frustratedly, "because he's  _avoiding us_." 

"Has he blocked you too?" Blue continues typing, fixing a typo while he waits for his answer. 

"No," Candela sounds victorious for a second before she continues, "but what if he  _does_ block us?" 

"Suck it up," Blue says blandly. He's offered his help, and if they refuse to take it, so be it. He's not going to twist their arms. "Either text him or don't. I'll only intervene if he starts kvetching at me." 

" _I'm_ kvetching at you," says Blanche. 

"What the hell is kvetching?" Candela mumbles. 

Blue stares at his phone. Blanche has also gone silent. 

"Babe," they say, after a long moment. "It means complaining. It was all the rage back when Silph first came out with phones and computers." 

"I was too poor to afford a phone or a computer when they first came out." Candela deadpans. 

A pause. Blue flinches guiltily. Fucking white-boy privilege rearing its head once again. Blanche is also silent, and the air is thick with tension. 

Eventually, Candela says, "aw no, don't get weird at me." 

"Too late," Blanche says, pronouncing every word with a preciseness that inexplicably makes Blue think of tea and crumpets and the phrase "God save the Queen". "You've made us guilty." 

"Ugh," says Candela. "Don't worry about it. If I feel like you've got any reason to be guilty, I'll let you know. Extensively." 

Blanche huffs out air through their teeth. "Okay." They say, backdropped by  _happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the Queen_! 

...Blue's probably going insane, isn't he. 

* * *

"Red, my boy!" Oak says cheerfully. His reputation may be ruined, but Red probably doesn't know that. "How have you been?"

Red looks at him blankly. 

"I'm doing fine, myself. Blue's gone to live with his grandmother and Daisy's got a boyfriend she's living with, so it's just me these days." Oak's smile turns fixed at the indirect mention of Agatha, but he preserves bravely. 

* * *

 

In her nice, dust free home, Agatha sneezes and then continues training her Pokémon. 

* * *

 

Red doesn't react to this save for a barely noticeable uptick of his brow. 

"Yes, well. Back from your little vacation? I'm sure Lance will let you reclaim your throne." He says this like it's obvious that Red should want the Championship back. 

For one thing, he doesn't. For another thing, Kelly beat him. 

He doesn't say any of this to Oak, though. Try as the man might, Red has never felt comfortable enough to speak to him directly. 

“Blue has an internship with Sycamore,” says Oak after a moment. He’s trying so hard to keep this conversation going while Red just wants to be alone damn it. 

* * *

**willow's interns**

**Feb 27, 3:44 pm**

blanche of champagne: spark, why are you ignoring us?

sparkle: Don't worry about it. Just some...personal issues. 

candelabra: aw, sparky, what's going on? 

sparkle: I'll handle it. Eventually. Don't worry, alright?

blanche of champagne: can we help somehow?

sparkle: No. Just—I've got this. 

* * *

**light of my life**

**Feb 27, 3:46 pm**

blanche, what's up with him?

i don't know, babe. 

i wish i did, though. 

ugh. 

i wish he would let us help. 

i care about him so much, you know?

yeah, i agree

i want to see him happy. i want to make him smile. 

i want to make sure he's never upset or alone again. i want to bury my face in his hair and

wait. 

wait fuck

babe am i into spark

am  _i_ into spark

well shit. 

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

"Ladies and gentlemen," says Kelly dramatically, phone held in her hand, "we got 'em." 

Blue walks in, covered in silly string. "Kelly Morgan Prince," he starts, and then blinks and focuses on the phone in her hand. "Are you really streaming me covered in silly string? Seriously?" 

"QnA time with two of the best Champions to ever hold the title!" Kelly hoists the phone up higher. "But, you know, it's live and stuff." 

"And stuff," Blue repeats flatly. 

"Stuff your face in it." Kelly replies glibly, reading the live chat. "Kelly, are you into girls?" She reads aloud. 

Blue rolls his eyes, cleaning the silly string off. "Classy, chat. Classy." 

"To answer your question, yes," Kelly winks, ignoring Blue's second eye-roll. "I'm a lesbian." 

"I thought you were Kantonian," says Blue, flicking some silly string out of the camera's shot. 

"Vine, nice!" Kelly grins, flicking a bit of silly-string into Blue's face, ignoring his disgusted groan. "We don't live together, thanks chat. I just came over here to placate Blue on the whole Red reemerging thing." 

"Eloquent," notes Blue dryly, reaching over to ruffle her hair. 

* * *

brieflyfeltneverpondered Follow

kelly and blue are peak wlw mlm solidarity

#champion kelly #kelly morgan prince #champion blue #blue oak #like legit #they're like siblings #and not media siblings either but like #actual siblings #like they aren't fighting 24/7 #but they aren't 'hey sis' 'love u bro' 

532,536 notes

* * *

Red stares. Mom smiles calmly. 

"The lab was involved in several accidents in quick succession. There was that curious little Vulpix that wandered in and did something or other to burn the interior but not the exterior, and then the lab was egged. And toilet papered. And whipped creamed." She explains, looking at the frankly ridiculous state of Oak's lab. "Shame they didn't get the house, though." She finishes in an undertone. 

What. 

* * *

 blanche of champagne _has created a new group-chat!_

blanche of champagne _has added_ candelabra _and_ sad gay!

**Feb 27, 10:43 am**

blanche of champagne: so candela and i have decided that we're poly and would like to date spark

candelabra: ^

sad gay: i—

* * *

 hello my name is blue oak and my friends are dumbasses

#blue blathers #kelly is also a dumbass but she is not who i'm talking about #i'm not talking about bill either 

57 notes

freedomfusia _reblogged your post_

wait you're friends with your sister's boyfriend???? but aren't you supposed to disapprove of him???? and like???? hate him?????

blueoakokay _reblogged your post_

is that? a thing? 

okay im sorry but that is the dumbest thing i've ever heard. daisy's got good judgement and bill is genuinely a great guy. why would i deprive myself of friendship just bc he will probably marry my sister like wtf

#ah toxic masculinity #i hate it very much #literally what reason does it have to exist #let boys cry and laugh and have genuinely healthy friendships #let boys wear makeup and dresses and heels and jewelry if it makes them feel good #let boys do traditionally ''feminine'' things #and stop it with your stereotypes thank you goodnight #*mic drop*

* * *

 "Apparently I can't be friends with you because you're dating my sister," says Blue, conveniently forgetting to mention the fact that he knows that they're probably going to get married.  

There's silence on the other end of the line. "I'd think you'd  _want_ to be friends with your sibling's partner so you can know that they're dating a good person." Bill replies after a few moments, laughingly. 

"Toxic masculinity is overrated," Blue says, thinking of the hoop earrings he has on. 

"God, I  _know_. You'd think, in a world where there are dragons able to decimate mountains, humans wouldn't feel the need to Do That." Bill says. 

He can hear the emphasis and it makes him laugh. "That's what I've been saying!" 

* * *

"I'm telling you, my boy, Blue just up and destroyed me! My life's work, my reputation, all on the grounds of  _child neglect_ —" 

Red whirls around and punches him in the face. The expression on his face is a— _betrayed one_? For the love of—he's been trying to get away from him for the entire day, made no secret of it, even—and he just would not take the hint! 

There's a click. He turns around again to see Mom with her phone in hand. "Don't worry," she says airily, "you're not in trouble." 

He gives her a flat stare— _yes, I'd hope not_ —and she laughs a little. 

* * *

Agatha looks up at the sky. "I have a strange urge to congratulate Red." She says. Blue gives her an odd look. "I know, I know!" 

* * *

**Pokémon Researchers**

**Feb 27, 12:35 pm**

sad gay: this gc has died press f to pay respects

candelabra: f

blanche of champagne: f

sparkle: f

Rowan: Dare I ask?

blanche of champagne: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=f

Rowan: Ah. 

* * *

**bill nye the science guy**

**Feb 27, 12:54 pm**

i just realized we wont be able to watch qe together when it comes out

......fuck

uhhhh what's that website u can use to watch the same thing at the same time

rabbit???? 

yeah yeah that

we should use that

yeah ok sounds good

 

* * *

Blue blinks at the caller ID. He picks it up, still extremely confused. "Akane?" He says. 

"Listen, can I just...give you Red's phone number?" She sounds pleading. "Just to text. He's so disconnected from everything—and I'm still angry at him, but..." 

Blue blinks again. "He has a phone?" He asks, focusing on the least important part of that statement, setting his Pokémon's food down. Alakazam absentmindedly finishes his Rubik's Cube while settling down to eat.  

"He does now," says Akane dryly. 

"Couldn't you pass it off to Kelly instead?" He's well aware he's being childish, but well. No one ever said he had to be mature. "It—he's just..." 

"I understand," says Akane, a touch frustratedly, and it dawns on him that she  _does_ understand. She knows what it's like for Red to just leave you in the dust because he's got his eyes fixed on the horizon and he either doesn't know or doesn't care that you can't keep up. "But you know my son best."

He barely keeps from laughing. "Maybe when we were eight," he says, "but not anymore." 

Akane's silent on the other end. "I think you'll be surprised." She says.

His phone pings with a text from her before he can figure out how to respond. 

(He gives Red a witty name, because he may have mixed feelings for the dude—crush, rival, friend, enemy—but Blue Oak is nothing but consistent). 

* * *

**hermit the human**

**Feb 27, 1:32 pm**

i hope you realize how persuasive your mom is

...Who is this?

blue oak 

Why are you not using capitals or punctuation?

i use punctuation but not in a message containing only one sentence. as for the capital thing: i just adapted with the times. 

there's a whole other dialect of english now. you can use it or you can ignore it, i don't really care either way. 


	26. Chapter 26

**researchers & memes, we're living the dream**

**Mar 1, 10:43 am**

sparkle: i now have one (1) girlfriend and one (1) date-mate

sad gay: honey we been knew

* * *

my friends have recovered from their wave of stupidity. how long will it be until the next one? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

#blue blathers

43 notes

* * *

Blue dismounts from Pidgeot, stopping in front of the studio, which has the word "STUDIO" helpfully printed on it in bright green letters. It's kind of tacky, actually. 

"Hello!" A voice says cheerfully. Blue turns to see a woman with bright pink nails waving him over. "You're Blue, right?" 

"Yeah," he replies, striding over to her with more confidence than he feels. "What am I supposed to do?" 

"Oh, just follow me," she says airily. 

* * *

ME  
i now have a snapchat 

KELLY  
aren't you supposed to be filming your aura guardian thing  
  
ME  
she told me to follow her so i did

and then she left me in a room and i got bored and downloaded snapchat

ok nvm she's back

* * *

"Okay, so! Just come through here and step into the booth."

He does. The booth smells a little like plastic and a little like laundry detergent. 

"I assume you read your lines," she continues, a little archly, "though you wouldn't be the first celebrity guest star to just not bother." 

"I did." Actually, he poured over his lines, but she doesn't really need to know that. 

She blinks and smiles. "Good, good. Can you go through your opening lines for me?" 

"I," He says, with a ridiculous amount of smugness (as suggested by Jess the PR head, who was also the one who recommended he get a snapchat), "am Gareth Byron of the house of Byron. And who are _you_?" 

"Thomas," The blonde woman says, shooting him a thumbs up. 

"Thomas," Blue repeats, sounding unimpressed through sheer practice. 

* * *

**Pokémon Researchers**

**March 1, 10:54 am**

AureaJun: This chat is honestly so inactive. 

CedarElm: maybe we should broaden our topics from literally only pokémon research and banter

_AureaJun is typing..._

_AureaJun is typing..._

AureaJun: Okay, you may have a point. 

* * *

**hermit the human**

**Mar 1, 11:43 am**

word on the street is you punched oak in the face. is that true? 

He was annoying me. 

oh my god 

He wouldn't leave me alone. I'm fairly certain he'd have followed me home if Mom would allow it.

okay that's hella creepy 

so he just followed you around like a pup begging for scraps?

Houndour, if that means anything to you.

wild or feral?

Depends on the day. 

huh. did you keep a spray-bottle on you?

Huh, so you _are_ studying Pokémon behaviors. 

I should've, but I didn't.

what do you mean "are studying"? did you doubt kelly?

You once tried to pet an Ekans. 

that's...a fair point, actually. 

* * *

Blue can feel his mouth pulling upwards without his consent, but there's still an angry thrum in his bones. The guy's good looking, yes. Blue's doesn't have the energy to be stubborn enough to deny that, but any and all emotional attachments are dead and buried. 

"I can hear you lying to yourself from all the way over here," Grandma calls from the next room over. "Stop it." 

Blue flushes. "What are you, psychic or something?" He replies tartly. "I thought you dealt with ghosts." 

Grandma's voice when she replies is nothing short of unimpressed. "Which makes the fact that I know you're lying all the more poignant, doesn't it? Besides, you never denied it, which means that I'm right." 

"Wh—you are _not_ ," Blue sputters, just as his text tone goes off. 

hermit the human: I told you so. 

* * *

okay so who's going to gif oak getting punched in the face by red (thank you akane for immortalizing it) 

#samuel oak #champion red #blue blathers

432,784 notes

* * *

March 2nd

* * *

Blue wakes up to his phone abruptly deciding to have a seizure. It pings and beeps and nearly vibrates off the table entirely. 

Tumblr, Tumblr, a bunch of Snapchat requests, a text from Bill, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, and a text from Red. Huh. 

Tumblr is just a bunch of people @'ing him with gifs of Red punching Oak in the face, Twitter is a bunch of tweets from the people he follows, Bill sent him a picture of Gareth Byron with the caption "is this you" (how he figured that out, Blue has no idea), and Red is bemoaning the internet. 

Mood. 

He answers Bill with a quick "no comment" and opens Red's text to see what exactly he's kvetching about. 

* * *

**hermit the human**

**March 2, 9:32 am**

The internet is scarily stupid. I mean honestly, why would I be kidnapped by Team Rocket? I defeated their boss multiple times.

i've been saying that ever since you left but conspiracists will just conspire even if it makes no sense. 

I hate the internet.

everyone says that at some point. but the internet also has a gif of you punching oak in the face 

What's a "gif"?

it's like a video loop, but it's an image

Huh, okay.

* * *

"Blue," Kelly hisses angrily. "Can I rant?"

Blue blinks. "Okay?" He says, still kind of slow and sleepy.

"My biological dad tried to get back in contact with me. I think it's because I'm champion now? But anyway, he tried to buddy up to me and get back into my life, which was—well. Not really what I wanted, but sure, I could deal. But then he went and badmouthed my mom and step-mom and tried to get me to live with him." Kelly blows out a frustrated breath and falls silent. "And it's like—he walked out on me. He doesn't get to come back after years and years, especially not since he cheated on my mom." 

"What the fuck," says Blue, fully awake now. "He seems like such a shitty person." 

"He is. My mama was really hesitant to try to 'replace' him," Blue can practically hear the quotation marks, "but she was still there for me every step of the way, even when I was a little five year old with trust issues, but it's—I don't care if she isn't my biological parent, 'cause she still took better care of me than my biological dad did." 

Blue thinks of crisp white lab coats and too-empty houses, of loud, boisterous laughter that hid the quiet emptiness of his home life from a quiet genius of a boy with issues of his own, of warm hands on shoulders that were not his, of warm advice given to the one who needed it least, completely bypassing the one who needed it most.

He thinks of steely eyes across a battlefield, of warm tea and blunt advice shoved between layers of snark. He thinks of a bitter, broken, poisonous woman who gladly turns her spikes to shield him from the world, and of the way he felt closer to her in only a few days than to Oak in—ever, maybe. Grandma did not have him for years and years and years, and yet she took him in without a word of complaint and did more for him then even he would have expected of her. 

"Yeah," he says. "I get that." 


	27. Chapter 27

March 3rd

* * *

one more day til i leave and i am both excited and nervous 

#blue blathers #like...i like sycamore. i think he is a Cool Person #but also i don't know kalos like i know kanto #and i have friends here #so

32 notes

* * *

"We should have dinner together." Daisy says. "You know, as a sort of 'you're going away, we're proud of you, go do what you love' kind of deal." 

"Ask Grandma," Blue suggests, scrolling through Twitter. He retweets a couple of things lazily while Daisy makes plans in the background. "Also, are we going to go to a restaurant?" 

"It's  _your_ dinner, you tell me." There's a pause and a muffled voice. "Yikes, gotta go! Try to give me your answer before twelve, yeah?" 

"Alright." 

* * *

**Pokémon Researchers**

**March 3, 9:53 am**

BurnetK: have you guys seen those "Which Pokémon Professor are you?" quizzes

BurnetK: the newest versions boycott oak and have a new 'blue oak' answer

_sad gay is typing..._

sad gay: brb gotta go see how accurate these quizzes are

* * *

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

ok so those "which pokémon professor are you?" quizzes apparently have an option that's for me for some reason? i'm not a professor but ok

_show this thread_

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

i'm doing the buzzfeed version bc it was the first one to pop up

|

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"Which of these is your favorite Pokémon?"

why is there both a blastoise and an eevee this is bs

ok im going with blastoise  
  
| 

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"Are you a good person?" 

well fuck. i...try to be? 

oh thank god that's an option

|

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"Would you become immortal if it meant you couldn't feel emotions?"

jesus fuck quiz, getting a little deep aren't you? the answer is no. 

| 

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"Do you actively try to learn about your Pokémon as individuals?" 

yes, obviously. 

|

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" 

what the hell does my favorite ice cream flavor have to do with any of this?

the answer is mint chocolate chip. 

| 

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

"Would you go out of your way to avoid people?"

i love people, so no. 

|

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

PFFFT I GOT SYCAMORE THIS IS HYSTERICAL 

|

Blue Oak ✓  
@blueoakokay

hey [@BuzzFeed](https://twitter.com/BuzzFeed?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) what answers do i have to say to get myself

* * *

hailey ✭・.・✫・゜・。.  
@hailspace

@blueoakokay's [thread](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312693/chapters/43075553) about taking a buzzfeed "which pokémon professor are you" quiz is absolute gold lmaoooo 

Mar 3 - 10:14 am

* * *

**researchers & memes, we're living the dream**

**Mar 3, 10:22 am**

candelabra: mint choc chip is disgusting

sad gay: blasphemy,,

blanche of champagne: but it? is? 

sad gay: blocked

sparkle: this just in: i no longer have a girlfriend or a date-mate 

candelabra: :(

* * *

"Bonjour," Kelly says in an awful Kalosian accent. Blue stares at his ceiling, letting his judgmental silence speak for him. "Okay, yeah, that was pretty rough. But hey! You're off to the land of baguettes and wine!" 

"Yay," says Blue, unsure if he's being sarcastic or genuine.

Kelly seems to take it as him being genuine and says, "I know, right? I almost wish I'd taken Kalosian instead of Sinnovian." 

"Learn it anyway," Blue suggests lazily. 

* * *

**hermit the human**

**March 3, 10:38 am**

You've created a monster.

what

Kelly's been frantically repeating a phrase over and over again and when I asked her about it she said you suggested it. 

i do not see the problem here

_video attachment sent_

oh my god 

Stop her. 

for the record i suggested she learn kalosian, not...

That

I know. Still, stop her.

* * *

"Hey, uh..." Blue starts, then blinks as Kelly turns her camera on. "Kells?" 

"Yes?" She asks distractedly. 

"Red tells me you've been screaming 'les bébés sont mignons' for the past five minutes over and over." He pauses to let her speak. She doesn't. "One, while babies are cute, you don't have to scream about it. Especially not for five minutes. Two, why the fuck are you learning to say that phrase in particular?" 

Kelly bites her lip guiltily. "Uh, I'm starting small?" She tries. 

Blue stares flatly at her. "If you wanted to start small, you'd start with basic phrases, not...that." 

"I plead the fifth." She says. "Also, you do realize I can just hang up on you, don't you?" 

"I'll just get Red to bother you." He replies flippantly. 

* * *

**lazy daisy**

**March 3, 10:46 am**  

how would u feel about having dinner at ur place

we can totally do that

nice

also did you know hitler was born on 4/20?

blaze it lmao

wait what

april 20th

_holy shit_

* * *

daisy just told me hitler was born on 4/20 and i havent been able to concentrate since 

#blue blathers #and my instinctive reaction was to go 'lmao blaze it' #like no that is not the Appropriate Social Response™ #he was an awful dude and all #but like— #blaze it #you get me?

43 notes

* * *

**sic-em-more**

**March 3, 11:21 am**

Did you really get me when you did the quiz?

[apparently-im-sycamore-now.jpg]

My goodness. 

buzzfeed, the least reliable quizmakers ever

* * *

In Bill and Daisy's Cerulean home, they stare intently at a screen while waiting for cookies to cool.  _Aura Adepts_ flashes into being on the screen in a fancy blue font. 

Five minutes later, Blue's voice comes from the laptop. "I, am Gareth Byron of the house of Byron. And who are  _you_?" He asks condescendingly. 

Thomas' reply is drowned out by Bill's triumphant, "I fucking knew it!" and Daisy's shriek of "What?!" 

"Oh my god," Bill says, "you didn't know?" 

"No!" Daisy stares at the screen before pausing it. "I had no idea." She says helplessly. 

"I knew the second they released the character sheet. Do you see the resemblance?" 

"Yeah, but I didn't think they'd get Blue to voice him!" A pause. "He's _so_ answering for this when he gets here."

"You still need to tell people that we're doing dinner," Bill points out. 

"Oh. Damnit." 

Bill stifles a snicker.  

* * *

Agatha's brow arches at the text from her granddaughter. Doable, certainly, though a little more forewarning would have done her well. She answers quickly and goes back to her cup of tea. 

* * *

In Pallet, Red reads Daisy's text apprehensively. Yeah, so he and Blue text now, but—

(will he want you there? will he tell you to leave? will he be upset? will he be angry?) 

(or will he not) 

(care) 

He's not certain which one would be worst. Maybe the apathy, because anger and sadness are both emotions targeted at him specifically, but apathy is just. 

Nothing. 

(you would know, wouldn't you? you've been apathetic to most things since blue left. you didn't care about what food was in your stomach and what shirt was on your back. all you cared about was pokemon and being the best—taking down a crime syndicate was to mimic a girl who is so much better than you.

and then you were the best.

and it was

awful.)

 

 

 

 


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ladies and gentlemen, the final chapter. 
> 
> (at least until the red sequel happens. it will happen, i'm going to work on it literally right after i hit the publish button.)

ANONYMOUS ASKED: so are you and red,,,,,friends now, or?

BLUEOAKOKAY ANSWERED:

i guess so? 

#i mean #the main reason i disliked him was bc oak liked him #but now we've established that Oak Sucks #so i don't see why not #but i also never talked about this with red so #asked and answered #Anonymous

* * *

"Hey, you're Kelly Prince, right?" 

Kelly turns around, smiling. "Yeah, I—" She starts, and then nearly does a double take. Fuck, cute girl alert. She clears her throat, suddenly flustered, and continues, "I am." 

The girl's eyes widen. "I...really wasn't expecting that," She says. Just before Kelly can freak out though, she continues quickly. "I mean, I wasn't expecting that you'd...actually be here. Where I live. Uh." She clears her throat. 

"I live here," Kelly says stupidly. "I mean, not here! Like, two streets away, actually." 

"Oh." The girl says, cheeks pink. "Cool. I...live here too. I mean—ugh." 

"So, what's your name?" Kelly asks, a little desperately. She's probably just misreading things, but there is a chance that this girl is actually into her. Which—woah. That would be—just...woah. 

"Ella Ross," says Ella, cheeks going pinker. "And you're Kelly." 

"That's me," Kelly says with a bright, nervous smile, stepping closer on a whim. Ella doesn't move away. That's a good sign, right? "Was there something you wanted to ask me, or?" 

"Um," Ella blinks a couple of times. "No? Just. You looked like—yourself, I guess, and I kinda just? Wanted to know if it was you. But, uh," she bites her lip.

Kelly stares. "But?" She repeats, voice cracking oddly. Fuck. 

Ella steels herself. "Feel free to not answer," she says, voice low, "but are you a lesbian?" 

"Uh. Yeah? Yes. I am. That. I'm a lesbian." God. Kelly's rambling. But the chances that this girl is into her are skyrocketing and—

Oh. She's getting kissed now. Okay. She can get behind that. Totally. 

* * *

**kell's hell**

**March 3, 2:14 pm**

i may or may not have gotten a girlfriend. i'll get back to you on that

WHAT THE HELL.

 

**March 3, 4:05 pm**

update: i've definitely got a girlfriend.

ADFGFDGHGF K E L L Y

her name is ella and she's literally the prettiest girl i've ever seen

i've already met her parents by virtue of meeting literally right outside her house

i had lunch with them

oh how'd they take it

her dad asked about my championship battle and her father said "you seem like you'll be good together" 

i think they like me?

can i meet ella

lemme ask 

* * *

"So Blue, this is my girlfriend Ella." Kelly says. "Be nice to her or I'll personally come to Kalos to kick your ass." 

"Is this Meet the Family: Kelly Edition?" Ella asks, green eyes widening. 

"It's the Meet the Elder Brother: Kelly Edition." Kelly answers glibly. 

"Yo, Ella." Blue says, used to the repartee by now. "Is it true that you met Kelly literally outside your house?"

"Yeah." Ella laughs. "I recognized her and came up to her to—I don't actually remember at this point? But I can remember thinking very gay thoughts." 

"Oh, mood." Blue says. 

* * *

Red isn't at his dinner. Blue—doesn't know how to feel about this. 

Like, this is his night. His time in the spotlight. But...they're actually kind of friends now? Blue wouldn't mind having him here? But at the same time he's kind of grateful that he's not here? 

Damnit, would his brain stop being an indecisive bastard and just stick with one emotion? That would be so much better for his sanity. 

"Blue!" Daisy says excitedly, catching him around the shoulders. "I can't believe it, you've got your own internship!" 

"I've had the internship for literal months, though?" 

Daisy makes a face and a dismissive gesture. "Whatever. Still, you're going to Kalos!"

"Profite bien de ton voyage," Bill contributes. Blue blinks. 

"Merci beaucoup," he says. "How long have you been able to speak Kalosian?" 

"Eh, I learned it in Uni a while back. Never kept up with it too seriously, but I did pass the class with an A, so." Bill shrugs. "Good to know I'm still passable." 

"Wait, aren't you like, twenty?" Blue squints at him. 

"I went to Uni early," Bill explains, a little awkwardly. "I don't like to brag about it, but..." 

"Dude, that's mad impressive." Blue's eyebrows have raised beyond his hairline at this point. 

"He's right," Grandma says, glass of wine in hand. "What do you have a degree in?" 

* * *

"Is there a reason you're not going?" Mom asks. Red nods tightly. "And you're sure this is what you want?" A pause, and then a shake. 

He wants to go. Wants to talk to Blue. But—

(but. but he may not like that. but this is his big day, and you can't overshadow him. not today. not now). 

"It seems like you and Blue have some issues," Mom says mildly, setting a cup of tea down in front of him. He eyes it mistrustfully. "Oh, calm down. I'm hardly angry enough to mess up your tea now." 

He sips it. It's the correct cup of tea. Unbidden, tears begin to slip down his face. 

Mom looks concerned. "Red—" She reaches out for him before thinking better of it. She wouldn't have hesitated before. He puts the cup down with alarmingly steady hands. 

"I think you need a therapist," She says.

 Red stares at her. W _hat, and pour all my issues into an entire stranger? No thank you_.

"I know you have trouble sharing your thoughts, but this is just...unhealthy. I want you to be able to have a good relationship with Blue, and it's very clear to me that you have a lot of conflicting feelings towards him." Mom fiddles with her hair. "It would be better for your mental health if you were to get a professional to talk through this with you." 

Red wipes his eyes, face stoic, and takes another sip of tea. Suddenly, the two spoons of sugar are cloying instead of gratifying. 

His mom wants him to get a therapist, and it's not even a bad idea.

God, Red's  _life_.

**Author's Note:**

> pls comment
> 
> pls. 
> 
> give me suggestions n feedback too pls

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Swings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18119621) by [Moon_Light_Dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Light_Dreams/pseuds/Moon_Light_Dreams)
  * [you will soar where the stars reside](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18848182) by [magicalmayhems](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicalmayhems/pseuds/magicalmayhems)




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